Colorful Bliss
by Mossyfire the Cat
Summary: When the Clans settled around the lake, they never doubted that it would be their forever home. But when sickness spreads countless seasons after Bramblestar is laid to rest, this new generation realizes that their ancestors were wrong. After a frightful journey, the four Clans discover the gorge where SkyClan now makes their home. But will the five reunited Clans get along?
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**Greetings, and welcome to Colorful Bliss, sequel to Colorful Sky! If you clicked on this and are like, "ok wat is goin on" then allow me to introduce you to the story of the Colorful Prophecy. This involves five special cats: Redfur of SkyClan; Yellowglint of WindClan; Greeneyes of ThunderClan; Bluepelt of RiverClan; and Blackfang of ShadowClan. While each of these cats must deal with their own personal issues, there's something bigger going on: the four Clans were forced to leave the lake. Colorful Sky ended with them arriving at SkyClan's territory. They are all weak and are forced to accept rogues and loners in their ranks. Now let the story continue...**

* * *

**Allegiances**

_**SkyClan**_

_**Leader, **_**Snakestripe****\- **big tabby tom

_**Deputy, **_**Foxsnarl****\- **russet tom

_**Medicine Cat, **_**Kit****\- **ginger tabby she-cat

**_Warriors, _Redfur- **red tom with amber eyes **(Apprentice: Auburnpaw)**

** Fireflower- **ginger she-cat

**Sand- **pale ginger she-cat

**Robin- **speckled tawny tom

**Rust- **rusty-golden tom

_**Apprentices, **_**Auburnpaw****\- **dark russet, auburn-colored she-cat

**_Queens, _Blaze- **white queen with a large ginger mark on her forehead (Mother to Robin's kits: Flame, a bright ginger tom; and Flare, a dark ginger tom)

**_Elders, _Spark- **yellow tom

_**WindClan**_

_**Leader, **_**Ivystar****\- **light gray tabby tom

_**Deputy, **_**Reedstripe****\- **faintly striped russet tom

_**Medicine Cat, **_**Stem****\- **ginger tom

_**Warriors, **_**Yellowglint-**yellow she-cat with yellow eyes **(Apprentice: Dawnpaw)**

** Flamestripe- **ginger-striped tom

**Caesar- **light tabby tom **(Apprentice: Fawnpaw)**

**Thorn- **golden-brown tabby tom

_**Apprentices, **_**Dawnpaw****\- **cream she-cat

**Fawnpaw- **young pale brown tom

_**Queens, **_**Roseleaf****\- **mottled cream she-cat (Mother to Reedstripe's kits: Sandykit, a sandy-colored she-kit; Mumblekit; a dark ginger tabby tom with an odd foot; Plumkit, a gray she-kit; and Flykit, a brown she-kit)

_**Elders, **_**Littleflower****\- **small tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

_**ThunderClan**_

_**Leader, **_**Dovestar****\- **creamy white she-cat with blue eyes

_**Deputy, **_**Otterpelt-**sleek brown tom

_**Medicine Cat, **_**Jaywing****\- **tan she-cat with blue eyes

_**Warriors, **_**Greeneyes-**brown tabby tom with startling green eyes **(Apprentice: Tammy)**

** Mudstripe- **dark brown tabby tom

**Tumblefoot- **tortoiseshell-and-white tom

**Raggedwing- **longhaired dark brown, almost black, tom with a battered look about him

**Leafpelt- **tortoiseshell she-cat

_**Apprentices, **_**Tammy****\- **light brown she-cat

_**Queens, **_**Bark****\- **dark brown she-cat (Expecting Raggedwing's kits)

_**Elders, **_**Spots****\- **spotted brown tom

**Stripes- **striped brown she-cat

_**RiverClan**_

_**Leader, **_**Lightstar****\- **golden tabby tom with green eyes

_**Deputy, **_**Silverfire****\- **silver tabby she-cat

_**Medicine Cat, **_**Beetlewing****\- **brown tom

_**Warriors, **_**Bluepelt****\- **blue-furred she-cat with blue eyes

** Stonedust- **gray-brown tom **(Apprentice: Prickle)**

**Streamtail- **silver tabby she-cat **(Apprentice: Tunnel)**

**Cinder- **dark gray tom

**Ash- **pale gray tom

_**Apprentices, **_**Prickle****\- **solid brown tom

**Tunnel- **mottled gray she-cat

_**Queens, **_**Jumpingspirit-**gray tabby she-cat (Mother to Thornkit, a brown tabby tom)

_**Elders,**_** Palemist-**__thin white tom, formerly of WindClan

_**ShadowClan**_

_**Leader, **_**Stripepelt****\- **dark gray tom with black stripe down back

_**Deputy, **_**Scarletblood****\- **black tom

_**Medicine Cat, **_**Tallpine-**black she-cat

_**Warriors, **_**Blackfang-**black tom with white muzzle and odd gray eyes **(Apprentice: Weakpaw)**

**Beesting- **black-and-ginger tom

**Dice- **black tom

**Slate- **dark gray, almost black, tom

_**Apprentices, **_**Weakpaw****\- **tiny yellow tom

_**Queens, **_**Snowflake****\- **pure white she-cat

_**Elders, **_**Lichen****\- **deaf dark gray tom

**Blizzard- **white she-cat

**Fire- **white she-cat with ginger patches

_**Cats Outside Clans**_

**White- **white she-cat

**Bright- **white she-cat with a fluffy silver tail and blue eyes

**Carmen- **beautiful tortoiseshell and white she-cat with blue eyes

**Pandora- **pale tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

**Pompey- **ginger she-cat with dark ginger paws

**Donner- **dark brown tom with a white chest and paws; yellow eyes

**Blitz- **bright ginger tom with white stripes; black paws; a large scar over his shoulders; and dark blue eyes

**Raven- **black she-cat with blue eyes

**Gold- **golden-brown she-cat with white forepaws, tail, and sky-blue eyes (Mother to Thistle's kits: Leaf, a dark golden-brown she-kit with a light gray underbelly, white tail-tip, and dark blue eyes; and Pebble, a light gray tabby tom with white ears and paws and amber eyes)

**Thistle- **dark gray tom with a light gray left forepaw, tail-tip, and dark amber eyes

**Prologue**

The brown tom lifted his head, drawing in a deep breath. He gazed about him, panicking for a moment. He wasn't in his den, in the gorge…

Then he remembered. _I'm dead. _He rose to his paws, smoothing down his ruffled fur and performing a quick groom. As he ran a moistened paw over one set of whiskers, he thought how he was in StarClan now. He looked at his paw pad, smooth and gray, not cracked and crusted like it had been in life. He was no longer feeble. His eyes were no longer milky. Even though he was no longer on earth, he felt _alive_.

"Treestar."

He spun around, finding himself face-to-face with Frecklewish and Cherrytail, his old companions. A purr rumbled from deep within the former SkyClan leader's throat. "Greetings," he meowed to the two she-cats.

Frecklewish dipped her head and Cherrytail murmured a hello, but they both looked troubled. "Follow us," Frecklewish said simply before she turned and bounded away, back through the undergrowth.

Treestar stretched and quickly followed their path, which was indicated by the trampled ferns and weeds. The three cats soon turned up in a clearing where a long line of starry cats sat before them. Treestar felt his stomach lurch as he recognized Leafstar, Sharpstar, Echosong, and Sparrowpelt, Cherrytail's brother, among the group.

"H- hello," the tom murmured shakily, lowering his head in front of each ancient cat. Then he sat down in between Frecklewish and Cherrytail, three facing four.

"Why have you summoned us all?" Cherrytail mewed, voice no longer raspy, and pelt no longer rough and patchy. Now she was as sleek and bright as Treestar recalled her to be in their younger years.

Leafstar's brown-and-cream tabby pelt bristled as she spoke. "As you know, the other four Clans discovered SkyClan recently, soon after your deaths."

Treestar nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "What a shame. I always wanted to meet the other Clans. Firestar and Sandstorm left soon before I was born, so I've never-"

"They must unite," Sharpstar interrupted, dark ginger tail twitching. Despite the irritation the rest of his body showed, his eyes twinkled as he gazed at his mate, Cherrytail. "SkyClan was originally never intended to be separated from the other four Clans."

"But none of us would be here if SkyClan wasn't where it is now," Cherrytail pointed out, looking like she wanted to reach forward and twine her tail with Sharpstar's.

Echosong frowned. "You're absolutely right," the silver tabby medicine cat meowed. "But the thing is, the five Clans were also always destined to reunite someday. Now that they have, everything should be in order."

Sparrowpelt flattened his ears and said somberly, "But things _aren't _in order."

Treestar tried not to stand and yowl in frustration. He swung his desperate green eyes toward Leafstar. "Leafstar, you came to me in a dream and told me to make the right choice for my new deputy. I chose Redfur, but I took too long to name him in place of Snakestripe! Now it's too late..." He ducked his head, feeling awful. "I've been taken too soon."

Leafstar's unwavering amber eyes caught Treestar when he looked up, and pulled him into her soothing aura. "Do not fret, Treestar. There's a reason you did not demote Snakestripe from second position."

Treestar didn't speak.

The brown she-cat blinked at him calmly. "You were scared of his reaction. Scared that his temper would cause an uprising throughout what few cats your Clan had left. Scared that Redfur wouldn't be able to handle it as new deputy, and would even be killed by Snakestripe due to jealousy. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong," Treestar admitted slowly. "It's all my fault."

Sharpstar stamped one front paw on the ground before him, making a little cloud of dust erupt around his flickering claws. "No, it's not," the tom insisted. "There's a reason we insinuated that you pick Redfur, and there's a reason you took our hints and chose him to lead SkyClan out of destruction."

Echosong lifted her chin and looked Treestar right in the eye. "That is reason is because, deep down, you _know _Redfur can handle it. You _know _you can trust Redfur to make the right decisions that will place his paws on the correct path."

Frecklewish gaped. She turned on Treestar, yellow eyes huge. "You see, Treestar? Everything will be alright."

Treestar shuffled his paws, tiny grass blades tickling his paw pads. "I hope so…"

Unhurriedly, the brown tom craned his neck until he was staring up at the starry sky. Those weren't real stars. That wasn't a real sky. It was just a sky in the sky. And, Treestar knew, he was now part of this sky, one of the stars cats down on earth look up to each night. Treestar knew that, now, he was out of the question. He could only pray that Redfur would realize his true potential and make the correct choices, and lead SkyClan out of the fire Snakestripe would willingly bring them into.

* * *

**If you submitted an OC, thanks! As you can see from the allegiances, all of them will make an appearance in the story. See you at chapter one!**


	2. The New Rogues

**Welcome to Colorful Bliss! Here is Redfur's POV:**

* * *

His paws landed on the earth just behind hers, though not nearly as gracefully. He was the goose to her doe, if that made any sense.

"Slow down! We're not from WindClan- and we have the WindClan cats to prove it!" Redfur gasped, slowing to a halt.

Fireflower continued streaking forward after their jump down from the tree, either having not heard his plea or ignoring him. Probably the latter, knowing her.

Redfur turned around and admired one of the last not-half-rotted trees in SkyClan's forest. It was a grand oak, with branches reaching out and poking the decaying lumps of wood around the tree. The dark ginger tom felt, for a moment, a flash of grief for his former leader, Treestar. It was because of his death that Redfur hated setting paw in the gorge nowadays.

He registered a warm breath on his shoulder, and turned to see Fireflower standing there, blinking her beautiful copper eyes. "Should we go back?" she panted, sounding about as excited as he was to see their new leader again.

"Seems we have no choice," he grumbled before swiveling and trotting back to camp, Fireflower flanking him as their paws crunched on the fallen leaves.

A lot had changed in the three moons since the other four Clans arrived. Now, of course, it was late leaf-fall, and getting more difficult to feed the additional mouths. A full belly was something newcomers wouldn't be familiar with.

Yes, there were countless newcomers. Redfur made a sharp turn around a rock and stood, observing the activity. Mainly his Clanmates were out, doing their best to sunbathe in the meager sunlight dappling the reddish stone.

Snakestripe, now leader, sat on the Rockpile facing the sky, chest puffed out so far Redfur thought he might pop. The reason the arrogant tabby wasn't Snakestar yet was because Kit, their medicine cat, refused to take him to get his nine lives.

"It may be my duty," she had said, "but I'd rather get exiled than allow this cat to nourish his greed." But still Snakestripe hadn't punished Kit for her so-called crimes. Maybe he was just waiting for her, thinking she would budge eventually. He would threaten her, saying he'd just go himself, and Kit would be the opposite of bothered by that.

Foxsnarl was the unofficial deputy. Snakestripe hadn't actually named him second-in-command yet, most likely because the tabby was conceited enough to think he could run the Clan on his own. This put Fireflower and Redfur as the head warriors.

Little Auburnpaw had been apprenticed a bit early; or maybe it was just her size. Redfur took great pride in being her mentor, and also the only mentor in the Clan. Hawkpaw had suffered horribly when he caught a nasty bout of whitecough at the beginning of leaf-fall, strangely enough.

Roughly a moon ago, five rogues stumbled upon the Clans' uncomfortable home. There was a pale ginger she-cat named Sand; a speckled tawny-furred tom named Robin; a rusty-golden tom called Rust; a grizzly old yellow tom, Spark; and a white she-cat with a ginger mark on her forehead, heavy with Robin's kits, known as Blaze.

Sand and Blaze were sisters, and their father Spark. Rust was a good friend of theirs, and Robin had fallen in love with Blaze and insisted on traveling with the family.

Immediately all five cats took a liking to SkyClan, after agreeing to join, favoring that option over getting lost. They hadn't been offered to take a warrior name, which made them still feel a bit misplaced within the Clan. When Blaze had her kits, two toms, she gave them rogue names- Flame and Flare- and no one protested.

They were nice and all, but at times it seemed like to Redfur that he was not only training Auburnpaw, but also the three newest warriors.

"Well, speak of the…" he started when he watched Sand hurry toward him, Rust and Robin following more slowly. Redfur shut up when Fireflower glared at him. She stood stiffly beside him as they faced the rogues.

"Redfur, right?" Sand mewed. She barely looked at Fireflower, whose angry heat Redfur could feel from next to her.

"Yes, that's me. And good job remembering- last time you called me Redfern." Redfur's hackles rose a bit just from hearing the horrendous female name.

Sand giggled. "Oh, yeah! Sorry, Red_fern_," she teased, still laughing as if she had gotten a disease from a hyena.

Fireflower sighed. "What do you want from us?" she growled.

"Um," Sand said, gaze flicking over the ginger she-cat for half a heartbeat. "Not to be rude, but I was talking to Redfur here."

"Oh, you were, were ya?" Fireflower grumbled. She slunk away, stomping as loudly as a badger.

Instantly Redfur wanted to go after her, but knew he had to make a good impression on these cats. He didn't need more enemies in his own Clan besides Snakestripe.

"So, er, how can I help you three?"

Rust stepped up next to his companion. "As always, Sand takes forever to explain a simple thing," he said hastily, while Sand swatted him with sheathed claws. He ducked a little but still received the blow, rolling his eyes as he meowed, "We were just wondering if we could show you something."

"I suppose," Redfur replied hesitantly. "Don't you want to approach Snakestripe or Foxsnarl about this, though?"

"No, we think you're the best one to show this to," Robin piped up, looking a bit antsy. "You need to see it before it gets stolen by the wind."

_Stolen by the wind? _Redfur pondered as he murmured goodbye to Fireflower, who still appeared ruffled, and trailed the three new warriors out of the gorge again. _Are they showing me a feather? _

As expected, they entered the forest, the chilly breeze common to the season buffed by the trees. Redfur bounded after them the whole time, skirting around a smelly stump, hopping neatly over a lumpy hollow log.

He was slightly surprised when they turned up at the cold silver fence Redfur had gotten injured on when he was traveling to recruit a mother for Auburnkit with Fireflower and Snakestripe.

"This here chain link fence," Sand began, lashing her tail.

"Chain link," Redfur mumbled to himself. So that's what Twolegs called this? Often rogues who were city-borne knew Twoleg terms the best. These words felt strange on his tongue.

"Redfur," Rust said, snapping the amber-eyed warrior back to attention. "Look. It's just the way we saw it arranged before."

Redfur followed the tom's line of vision, and at first he didn't see anything. Then five different-colored wisps of fur came into view, all clinging to the "chain link" fence like a squirrel dangled for dear life from a tree branch. "Trespassers?" he guessed lamely. He hadn't scented anything unusual on the way here: just decomposing wood and patrols gone by.

Robin frowned. Instead of willing for him to guess again, the tawny tom simply reached forward and snagged a reddish tuft on his claw. Then he shoved it in Redfur's face. Backing away a few strides, Redfur's brow furrowed as Robin ordered him to sniff it.

Redfur did so, and inhaled most of the wisp in the process. But he sneezed it out, and glimpsed the dark ginger fur rain down as gently as falling snow. Then he whispered, "It's me. It smells like me. But I haven't been by here in a few days, and that scent's fresh!"

Sand jerked her head to the other clumps of fur stuck on the fence. "See if you recognize any of the others."

The SkyClan warrior stalked forward, not particularly liking being told what to do by a trio of prickly former rogues. But nevertheless he leaned forward, and as he sniffed each tangle of fur- yellow, then brown, then gray, then black- he recognized the scent of WindClan, ThunderClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan, respectively.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "A bit strange, that's all. Why were you all so intent on showing me chunks of fur?"

Robin stared at him in disbelief, like he thought Redfur was joking. "Are you serious?" exclaimed the tawny-colored tom. "It's not every day when you spot pieces of fur caught on a fence in such an orderly fashion as this."

Rust stepped forward, looking perplexed. "And you said you didn't even come by here for a few days. How is this possible?"

Redfur was sick of the barrage of questions being pummeled at him like hail. He just grumbled, "Maybe some of my fur fell off, traveled through the forest, and ended up here. I don't know."

Sand just looked at him and exhaled. "We know that you're supposed to be leader."

The red tom had just swerved around to head back, but now whirled and demanded, "Excuse me?"

"Your mate, Fireflower-"

Right away his pelt spiked in embarrassment. "She's not my mate! Just a friend."

Sand exchanged a knowing look with Rust and Robin, which only frustrated Redfur even more. Then the she-cat went on, "Your 'friend' Fireflower told us about how your old leader, Treewhatsit, said you needed to lead SkyClan."

Redfur swung his head downward so he wasn't locking gazes with them. "Too late for me to do that now."

* * *

**See you at chapter two~**


	3. The Arrogant Healer

**Here's the first chapter in Yellowglint's POV- enjoy!**

* * *

The squirrel clasped in her jaws seemed to bear the weight of twenty squirrels. Yellowglint groaned as she reentered the gorge, where she dropped her measly catch on the fresh-kill pile. Then she turned.

There he was again. She could just make out Nettlethorn's bony frame, formed by the tree branches rising above the Rockpile. Yellowglint took a step closer, but just like that he was gone. She hissed at nothing in particular and lashed out one front leg, sending tiny pebbles scattering right into the face of WindClan's new medicine cat.

Stem drew himself up and growled, "Just what do you think you're doing, spraying little daggers at my face?" He was a thick-muscled ginger tom, and though he didn't look it, a former kittypet. There didn't seem to be a shred of fat on his sleek body.

"Sorry," she rasped, hardly in the mood to be snarky. She started to turn away, but the bulky tom lashed his lengthy tail into her path. Without twisting back around she grumbled, "What do you want?"

"I want to hear a real apology," Stem said simply. Yellowglint could feel the heat of his overworked pride, and knew that he would scald her feelings somehow if he didn't get what he wanted.

She easily gave in and spun so she was facing the robust tom. "I truly am sorry, Stem. I didn't see you there, and was just a little down. That's why I kicked out with my leg. I didn't mean to hit you with those _miniscule _rocks."

Before Stem could request for her to tweak the speech, Yellowglint strode away, brushing by him roughly.

There was a reason SkyClan, the other four Clans' current host, was suffering the most. Almost all of their prey had been tainted by some nasty disease that had reportedly claimed the lives of countless cats. Safe pieces of prey were very rare, so it only made sense that WindClan lost some kits too, including the old medicine cat Brindlefur.

WindClan, in dire need of a new healer, approached a pair of kittypet brothers exploring in what was unknowingly to them SkyClan's forest. The toms, Stem and Thorn, agreed to join, Stem less heartily.

Both were clueless about herbs, but fairly skilled in fighting. Stem had boasted that he and Thorn drove away trespassers from their "yard" every day. As it turned out, though, Stem understood the other medicine cats' lessons faster than his littermate, and ended up becoming WindClan's medicine cat. Unfortunately, this put him in a high position, and made him very full of himself. His nose was raised so much, Yellowglint was surprised his neck hadn't gotten stuck that way.

Thorn was doing well too. He was an excellent warrior, just a little spotty with hunting. He had taken a liking to Caesar, and now the two were like best friends.

Caesar still never got over Dovestar, the pretty ThunderClan leader. The cream-colored she-cat was clearly the object of many toms' affections, but Caesar's attraction to her stood out the most. In fact, right now he was bothering Dovestar.

Then there was Caesar's apprentice- yes, Ivystar thought the obnoxious tabby could train an apprentice- Fawnpaw.

Such a shy pale brown tom, Fawnpaw arrived one frostbitten night, mewling like a newborn kit. As it turned out, he was just barely three moons old, and the cutest thing ever. When asked what his name was, he mumbled something unintelligible that sounded like "Don't have one"; so, naturally, Ivystar took him in before any other Clans could claim him, and named him Fawnkit after his fawn coat. Fawnkit quickly grew up and was named a 'paw under Caesar. Yellowglint would have minded if she didn't have her paws full with her own trainee, Dawnpaw.

Despite the steady gain of cats in WindClan, there had been a significant downward spike a moon ago. Eaglepaw, Ivystar's wily apprentice, and his mother Ashcloud surrendered to the disease. Flamestripe, her mate, could only comfort his daughter Dawnpaw by saying that they were now safe in StarClan with their deceased brother Oakkit. But Yellowglint still noticed how much Dawnpaw was grieving when they trained, depression looming behind her bright eyes.

In addition, one of their elders, Palemist, fled WindClan to be with RiverClan. Apparently he had taken a fancy to fish and wading in water while spending time with some RiverClan cats, and claimed he had always wondered what it was like to live in another Clan. Lightstar and his cats welcomed the white tom with open paws.

Yellowglint's head ached from thinking about all her Clanmates. She also realized she had been standing frozen in the center of the clearing, and bounded over to her friend, Roseleaf, who was resting next to her mate, Reedstripe. They were watching their kits play.

For a moment, Yellowglint slowed her trot toward her friend. Lately, things had been different between her and Roseleaf. It was like the cream she-cat had moved on, having kits with the deputy of all cats. She already seemed wiser and less spunky than she used to be before she was a queen. However, there was no turning back now, because just then Roseleaf spotted Yellowglint and motioned her over.

"I can't believe how big they're getting," Yellowglint remarked as she gazed at Sandykit, Mumblekit, Plumkit, and Flykit.

"I feel like an old parent already," Roseleaf complained, sitting over and parting her jaws in a yawn.

Reedstripe glanced at his offspring wistfully. "Before we know it, they will be warriors."

Roseleaf's claws flexed, and her optics shimmered with apprehension. "I know this is a morbid question, b- but what if they don't… make it to warriorhood?"

Her mate looked at her fiercely, but with compassion Yellowglint could never have imagined a tom bearing. "You know they will," Reedstripe declared, squeezing Roseleaf's slim shoulders with his tail. "You're a fighter, Roseleaf, and if they share your blood then there's not a doubt in my mind that they're fighters too."

Yellowglint smiled, glad to see Roseleaf looking relieved. The queen dipped her head in direction of her kits. "I wish I could say one of them has the destiny of a medicine cat, just in case Stem… bails, but they all have the build of a warrior, even Mumblekit."

It was true. But poor Mumblekit… the scant dark ginger tabby was a copy of his father, except for his back left paw, which was a bit lopsided. It was smaller than the rest of his wiggly feet, and twisted at a strange angle. It was impossible for any medicine cat to snap it back into place. Even if it were facing the right way, it was still oddly small compared to the rest.

When it first came out about Mumblekit's paw, Roseleaf had wailed that it was her fault, she had been too daring when carrying him and his siblings. Reedstripe, being the supportive cat he was, just argued that StarClan had made Mumblekit this way for a reason.

Destiny.

Yellowglint nodded after all this went through her head at warp speed. "Definitely," she mewed. "They are such amazing cats already, so important. I can tell their future is dazzling."

**OoOoO**

Bluepelt's tail hadn't been lifted from the ground in forever.

Yellowglint circled her RiverClan friend while Bluepelt stood stiffly. Finally Yellowglint halted behind the gray female and said, "Try lifting it. It is still there, you know."

"The tip burnt off!" Bluepelt hissed, instantly defensive. "That's the most important part of a cat's tail. Once the tip is gone, there's no more tail signals, less proper balance…"

As she went on with her list, Yellowglint recalled how StarClan had sent a bolt of lightning through an enormously tall tree that Bluepelt's tail had been touching. Electrified and not herself, the RiverClan warrior had given the fourth cat in the prophecy, Blackfang, his power through a peculiar nose-touch. Then she collapsed, and ended up needing to have the end of her tail, which had been reduced to ash, bitten off by Beetlewing. Since then, Bluepelt had allowed her tail to drag on the earth, and these days it was caked with dirt, dusty, and grass-stained. It had basically collected anything it went over.

"Just try. For me," the WindClan she-cat insisted.

"No," Bluepelt retorted. "How is lifting my tail going to help you?"

Suddenly, there was a tap on Yellowglint's shoulder.

* * *

**Who could it be?**


	4. The Shocking Kits

**Can we get to five reviews this time? Thanks for reading! Here's Greeneyes' first POV of CB, enjoy!  
**

* * *

The brown tabby was very furious. He stormed through the unfamiliar forest, so angry that, one could joke, he was leaving every leaf in his path wilted.

But it made sense; the news he had just received was jarring.

"My brother!" His voice was close to a shout. "My foolish, scatterbrained, childish brother… a _father_?"

It just didn't make any sense to poor Greeneyes. How could he have let this happen? How could he have let his skills with a she-cat go slack? Now he was going to be the lone elder in the den, retired early and forever alone. Or maybe he would be stuck a warrior forever, serving his Clan relentlessly- and mindlessly- instead of focusing on starting a family. That was all Greeneyes had done so far, anyway. Work, work, _work._

A lot had changed in the past few moons the four Clans had been staying at SkyClan's gorge. First of all, everyone had gotten skinnier than they already were. Greeneyes' ribs were poking into his bony elbows every time he took a step. Even though he was numb to that pain by now, not everyone else was.

There had been deaths, that was for sure. Miserable, unfortunate Leafpelt and Mudstripe had lost both of their kits, Frostpaw and Nightpaw, to the disease that plagued this entire wretched area. Having been apprenticed early- though by the time they died, they were both past apprentice age- Frostpaw and Nightpaw had always been a bit more frail than the rest. Sadly, Frostpaw, who had requested to train as a medicine cat, wasn't even alive long enough to learn how to cure any disease. Leafpelt, almost listless from grief, was a warrior now, though quite a useless one. If Mudstripe got her to do anything, it was just to mumble something unintelligible.

Then there were the newcomers. Tammy, a light brown she-cat who used to be in Caesar of WindClan's gang as rogues, was now Greeneyes' fierce apprentice. She was also extremely firm in not taking a Clan name. "Better just Tammy than Tammypaw," she had said when she lifted her nose at Dovestar. She ignored the leader's pleading that she would get a completely new name without Tammy in it; however, that only seemed to lessen the chances of the young female obliging.

Bark, Spots, and Stripes had been traveling together, a group of battered loners, when they stumbled upon some Clan cats patrolling. They decided they might as well join, but stick together like honey. And that they did, within ThunderClan, until Bark found something more than a friend in Raggedwing, and totally abandoned her parents in the elders' den. It seemed so quick, because now she was expecting his kits.

Greeneyes swerved and slashed his claws over a thick strip of Bark's namesake. _How _could this have happened? There was only one thing left for him to do, now that his brother was gone to him: ask a she-cat.

He returned to the gorge and was immensely relieved to see Yellowglint speaking with Bluepelt, most likely about her singed and dusty tail again. Greeneyes bounded over to them and tapped the WindClan she-cat's shoulder.

Yellowglint's head twisted and she sighed when she saw Greeneyes. "What?"

"So glad to see me, huh?" Greeneyes joked, but he swiftly returned to the point. "Look, I need to talk to you two about something… important."

"I'll get Blackfang," Bluepelt mewed, looking eager to get away from her yellow-furred friend for a moment, but Greeneyes shook his head.

"No need for him. I just want to ask some of my best female comrades for advice," Greeneyes announced bravely.

Rolling her eyes, Bluepelt sat down patiently, but Yellowglint stiffened and bared her teeth a little. "Don't tell me you're going to ask about love?"

Greeneyes gulped. He knew that tone. "What—" he started to ask, but in a flash recalled the deceased tom who Yellowglint seemed to have banned herself from thinking about… Addertooth.

The handsome earth-colored tom had disappeared mysteriously about a moon-and-a-half ago without a trace. It was almost unbelievable, really, after all the other losses the Clans had suffered since early greenleaf. From the look on Yellowglint's face every time she laid eyes on him, it was palpable that she was smitten with Addertooth.

"It's not about him," Greeneyes said hastily. "It's about my… er, problems. I don't know if you have noticed, but—"

"Dovestar," mewed Bluepelt.

Greeneyes winced. "That obvious?"

"Yup," Yellowglint snorted, relaxed and perched gingerly on a flat boulder. "Very."

"Oh, well," Greeneyes breathed. "What I want to know is, what does a she-cat want in a good mate?"

Yellowglint doubled over, snickering hard. "Not really! You're going to ask Dovestar the Question?"

"_The _Question?" gasped Bluepelt, squealing and bouncing a little in her seat. "Wow, Greeneyes, I never knew you had the nerve!"

Greeneyes was baffled. "The question? The nerve? What?" _How many times have I said 'what' the past few moments? _

The she-cats were too busy giggling to answer him at first. Greeneyes was a bit embarrassed by this, since other cats were starting to glance over curiously. And nearly everyone knew each other here at this point, besides most of the SkyClan cats, so that maximized the embarrassment level.

_Maybe I should've just went to Blackfang instead. He had a mate before, I just figured it was an ultra-sensitive topic for him. _Blackfang's mate, Tabbystripe, had perished along with their unborn kits in a battle with dogs a few moons ago.

Gradually Yellowglint and Bluepelt got over themselves. Bluepelt quit grunting like a pig long enough to utter, "We're just so amazed you're planning to ask Dovestar to be your mate. But anyway, _Yellowglint_—" Meaningfully she shot a sideways glance to her friend, who was still sputtering in amusement. "— what a she-cat wants in a good mate, hmm…"

Yellowglint fully recovered and right away meowed, "Depends on the she-cat. Personally I would like a tom like me, fun-loving, adventurous, high pain threshold..." She trailed off, looking distant for a heartbeat. Greeneyes recalled how Addertooth had once broken a leg when racing with Yellowglint, but barely was bothered by it.

Bluepelt frowned, deep in thought. Then she said, "I suppose I would like a tom that contrasts a little from me, so that we eventually fit together like two halves of an acorn. But not totally different, like for example we could share the acquired taste for the complex water vole." Yellowglint stared at her, like to check if she was serious, and they burst out chuckling again.

Greeneyes was getting annoyed now. "Are either of you being serious with me?"

"I was," Yellowglint simpered, jerking her head in Bluepelt's direction. "Until she started it again."

"I give up," he groaned, rising to his paws and bidding them a stiff goodbye. It was hopeless, though, as they were dissolving in giggles. Ears reddening a little, Greeneyes shuffled off, not noticing where he was going until he ran into something big, plush, and matted.

He didn't even have to hiss the name in irritation to know who it was. Running into this giant cat's thick chest had happened on numerous occasions. Raggedwing.

"Didn't see ya there, Greeneyes!" Raggedwing chortled, his copper eyes bulging as they gazed down upon the dwarfed tabby.

"O' course you didn't," Greeneyes grumbled under his breath. "Too much fur in your eyes."

"I still can't believe it," Raggedwing went on, heaving his rump onto the earth. Greeneyes could've sworn the ground shook as he did this.

The smaller tom didn't sit, just stood with his claws curling into the soft floor. He could never say that he hated his brother: Raggedwing just got so annoying sometimes… in the way, and always superior to Greeneyes. He had always been more cheerful too, especially after their sister, Softpaw's, death. The only notable thing Greeneyes remembered Raggedwing do for him was sacrifice his cushion-like body when his brother fell off a high tree limb. But the reason Greeneyes fell in the first place was because Raggedwing had shaken the tree by sharpening his claws on it stupidly.

"I know," Greeneyes eventually responded, but he could tell his littermate was somewhere else. Probably imagining what his kits would be like, even though they were barely life forms yet at this point. Since he could think of nothing better to say, he inquired, "What do you think your offspring will be like?"

Raggedwing beamed in delight. "I thought you'd never ask!" he admitted. "Honestly, I'm hoping for an even number gender-wise; a tom and she-cat or two toms and two she-cats, you know. But I think three is a nice number as well. I'd like them all to look like their mother; I swear, if any of them inherit my looks, they'll be angry with me." Greeneyes forced a laugh along with him, thinking, _I'll never be talking with anyone what _my _kits will be like._

* * *

**Aww, poor Greeneyes, forever alone. :c**


	5. The Blissful Water

**I hope you enjoy- I'm proud of this chapter!**

* * *

Being hunched on the edge of the clearing, sheltered under a bone-dry rocky overhang, Bluepelt felt like her paws would dissolve to dust, they were so cracked. How did these SkyClan cats live with barely a trickle of fluid as their water source?

Bluepelt also felt old. That was the only word to describe her feelings as she watched her old apprentice, Streamtail, demonstrate a battle move to a small mottled gray she-cat.

Prickle and Tunnel were apparently half-siblings, sharing the same father. They met each other when Prickle came to visit his father, only to find him with a new mate and daughter. Nevertheless, he and Tunnel became close and were even kittypets for a while. Now they were nearly warrior-age, but training to be warriors after being soft-pawed in Twoleg nests for a few moons.

Bluepelt didn't mind Stonedust mentoring Prickle: he was his second apprentice and, as the deputy's mate, the gray-brown tom did deserve some privilege.

But then, as the sharp-eyed she-cat watched Streamtail fake-belly-rake Stonedust, Bluepelt recognized a sudden burst of anger burning her veins.

_Streamtail was made a warrior early to strengthen the Clan! Normally, she should still be a young warrior, not being expected to train a young cat of her own! _

Tunnel watched the silver tabby in awe and attempted to copy the move on Prickle, with some success. She could only hit his belly for a heartbeat before he slid to safety.

"Now, Thornkit, what did I tell you about getting muddy?" Jumpingspirit, a gray tabby queen, chided her son as she led him back to the nursery cave. "You'd think with there being barely any water in this gorge…"

Bluepelt's gaze followed them. It was haunting how much Thornkit looked like his father, Thornear, who perished in a battle with dogs on the Clans' way here. It only made sense for his grieving mother to name him Thornkit when he was finally born at the end of the long journey.

Other fatalities in the past couple moons included Amberleaf, Bluepelt's sister. At times pain stung the gray female's heart, as if poison had been injected and she was dying a slow death. But then she recalled all the bad qualities of the arrogant brown she-cat, which far outnumbered the good. Then Bluepelt was okay.

The final three new RiverClan members were Palemist, an elder from WindClan who discovered he enjoyed the oily taste of fish and liked getting his paws wet. RiverClan was in need of a fairly healthy elder, so they took him in without hesitation.

Then there were Cinder and Ash. Cinder, a tom with fur the color of a crow's feathers and blazing cobalt eyes, looked menacing but was really fun-loving and loyal. He was kin to the much younger Ash, pale gray with keen green optics. Ash, whose father had been Cinder's littermate, was surrendered to the dark gray tom when his father was discovered to be a bloodthirsty killer, found by his mate over the body of a kittypet, claws still embedded in its neck. Not wanting Ash to be raised around him anymore, she took him to where Cinder lived peacefully alone in an abandoned badger set. Cinder took his nephew and brought him up well. Recently, he gave in to Ash's pleas to explore the forest beyond their home, and came upon a patrol. They joined RiverClan.

It bothered Bluepelt how she knew all this information about these cats she had just met- Cinder and Ash hadn't even been here a moon yet- and they still wouldn't take a Clan name.

What happened to showing Clan pride? _If you're really part of the Clan, you should take a Clan name, _Bluepelt thought wearily as she eyed Cinder and Ash sharing tongues over a squirrel. _Even Firestar realized that when he became Firepaw instead of Rusty. Cinder and Ash can easily be converted to Clan names, without even dropping "Cinder" or "Ash". _

But she might as well have been an old-fashioned elder, since nobody appeared to be bothered by this. Bluepelt sighed and straightened her slender legs, almost gasping aloud as she raised her tail as well. Swifter than a rabbit tearing across WindClan's old moor, she lowered her tail so that it slapped onto the stony ground.

_It didn't hurt. _Biting her lip, Bluepelt glanced over her shoulder and eyed her tail, again lying limply, the usual as of late. Ever since she suffered an accident where a lightning bolt traveled through a tree she was touching with her tail, and ended up losing the tip of it, she refused to lift her tail. _I thought I would just feel that unimaginable pain I went through to give Blackfang his power. _

Checking to make sure her friend Yellowglint, who had been pressuring her to acknowledge her poor tail again for forever, was still out on patrol- she was- Bluepelt allowed it to rise until it was curled over her back. The fur had grown back on her cut-off tail-tip, and the so-called stump was not even noticeable.

"I _knew _you wouldn't be able to resist it permanently!" Yellowglint gloated, striding over and spitting out ten-some minnows at Bluepelt's paws. Seeing her comrade's disbelieving look at the tiny fish, the WindClan warrior added, "I may have swallowed a few on the way back. I dunno."

"A WindClan cat hunting _fish_?" Bluepelt exclaimed, ignoring Yellowglint's first comment and forcing down her tail again. "May I?" she asked, licking her chops at the minnows.

"Please," Yellowglint spat, wrinkling her nose. "I don't care if fish makes your fur shiny, it sure tastes vile!"

Bluepelt rolled her eyes and inhaled the fresh-kill before sitting back. "So where exactly did you find a river around here with even one minnow?" She placed her paws on top of the wet area where the minnows had been, desperately trying to soak up moisture.

"There's a pond over the fe—" Yellowglint stopped herself, looking distant for a moment. Confused, Bluepelt followed her bleary gaze to the strip of distant mountains lining the skyline with jagged spikes. "Uhm, you ever notice h- how mountain peaks kind of look like cat ears?"

Tilting her head, Bluepelt saw the resemblance somewhat. "I suppose…" she mewed, reaching forward and nudging Yellowglint. "What were you going to say before, though?"

"Huh?"

"'A pond over the'…?"

"Oh! A pond over the… gorge."

Bluepelt exhaled loudly. "Fine. Don't tell me the truth. But I'm desperate for something to wade in. Remember, our river back home became polluted from the lake before we left."

Yellowglint shrugged. "There's creeks all over the place. Follow me."

Bluepelt was puzzled, but a stir of excitement in her belly urged her to go after Yellowglint. _Maybe there _is _something I haven't discovered! _

She trailed Yellowglint a few fox-lengths across the camp, all the way to the familiar trickle Bluepelt, unfortunately, knew so well. "I know this 'river', Yellowglint—"

"Nope," her friend interrupted. "My river's not that pathetic. Come, over here."

Bluepelt was surprised when Yellowglint took a sharp turn, leading them out of the gorge. She kept her eyes on the wispy golden tail all the way through the forest, where Bluepelt uncomfortably picked her way over expanses of parched fallen leaves.

Then there were at the end. Bluepelt's jaw dropped as she scanned the tall, silver barrier separating she and Yellowglint from the thick bushes on the other side. "I just want to prepare you," mewed the WindClan she-cat, stepping between Bluepelt and the barrier. "This is called a fence; I overheard the SkyClan medicine cat, who used to be a loner of some sort, call it that. It's cold, but not sharp. You'll have to claw your way up and over it. Also… what I'll be showing you isn't really a river or creek or any of that. It is a pond. But I think you'll like it. C'mon."

Gaping, Bluepelt stayed on her friend's heels as Yellowglint fastened herself to the… _fence_ and scrabbled upwards. Bluepelt unsheathed her own claws and gripped one of the countless holes in the cold silver material. Yellowglint was already edging down the other side before kicking off, landing safely on the ground. Trembling with fear at the height, Bluepelt climbed to the top and then followed as Yellowglint had done, inching down and down headfirst… and then leaping next to the WindClan female. _Phew._

Bluepelt stayed frozen until the fence had quit rattling in its rusty poles. The noise was shrill and alarming, and her ears still rang as she slithered through the brush behind Yellowglint. They emerged into an open space, and across a Thunderpath stood an unbroken line of silent, eerie Twoleg nests.

"The only activity I've ever seen at those nests is a Twoleg going by with a dog attached to him by a rope of some sort. Strange as ever, yes, but the dog didn't even look my way. Okay… one, two, _three_!"

Disoriented, Bluepelt found herself dragged across the greasy black path. They made it to the other side just as a monster whizzed by, cramming several oily black pebbles into their ruffled pelts.

Growling in discomfort, Bluepelt stumbled after Yellowglint again as they padded along the edge of the Thunderpath, passing nest after nest. The field of bushes they had come from disappeared behind them, replaced by another endless row of Twoleg nests. Sure enough, most of them were quiet. One nest had a Twoleg in the front, accompanied by a frightening, long object with sharp points at the end. Many leaves were impaled on the spikes, and the Twoleg grumbled as it picked the leaves off the end of the tool. Shuddering, Bluepelt continued crunching through the leaves, keeping her optics on Yellowglint's hind paws.

"Here it is," purred Yellowglint. She turned and finally halted at the shore of a murky but deep pool of water.

Bluepelt was in love, and immediately stepped into the refreshing water, a tranquil sigh leaving her lips as faint waves lapped at her belly fur. "Thank you," she murmured blissfully to her friend.

It was a long walk to get here, but to just be able to feel the soothing touch of earth's water… it was worth it.

* * *

**See you at the Dusk update~**


	6. The Tiny Apprentice

**Here's your update ^^**

* * *

He could just make out the slim shoulders, the perfectly pointed ears, the glimmering golden eyes.

"Tabbystripe," Blackfang breathed, reaching out with one forepaw and his muzzle. But the outline dissolved into a smoky mist, replaced by three small shapes. Blackfang stood still, watching as the shadows moved around, shaped like small kits and pawing at the air. Their mewls pounded in his ears until he had to squeeze shut his eyes. When he opened them again, only one kit remained, very tiny and just a breath of dark gray cloud. Taking its time, it padded forward to Blackfang. The tom trembled, unsure what would happen if he tried to touch the kit. He took a step back, and in that instant the dream vanished, swirling the ShadowClan warrior in a world of silver and black.

Then he woke.

He had to know what the dream meant. It was the second night he'd had it, and the only difference had been the kits. They were new. Then a startling thought came to him: _Were those the kits Tabbystripe and I would've had if she lived? But why did two disappear? _With a shudder, he heaved himself up, performing a quick groom before padding out of the packed cave.

Only too much had changed in ShadowClan. They had suffered the most deaths, and Blackfang watched their "deputy", Scarletblood, stretch and yawn with scorn. Ever since Slashstar was killed from an old wound on his neck opening up, his second-in-command Stripepelt had to take charge. Yet the gray tom refused to earn nine lives from SkyClan's meeting place with StarClan. The SkyClan leader, Snakestripe (also without nine lives, interestingly) seemed to agree that was a forbidden zone. This only made Blackfang all the more curious about it. He also wondered what motivated Stripepelt to choose Scarletblood as his successor.

Scarletblood was a nasty cat, with a knotted black pelt and liquid, despicable orange eyes. His mate, Pricklepelt, left ShadowClan with two of their three kits due to her sheer hate of him. The kit she left for him wasn't exactly the strongest addition to the Clan: Weakkit. By some miracle, a queen from SkyClan, Snowflake, had nursed him, and he grew so fast that Stripepelt broke the warrior code and named him an apprentice early… to Blackfang.

Despite Weakpaw's swift growth, the yellow tom was still very small. But he was also ShadowClan's only apprentice, and everyone seemed to be leaning on him as the future of the Clan.

Beesting had convinced a kittypet, Dice, he befriended to join the Clan, and eventually the black tom gave in. The only thing he seemed good at was setting the almost pointless border markers, so he was always on those patrols.

Slate, Lichen, Blizzard, and Fire had heard of the new Clans moving into the gorge, and decided to join ShadowClan. Even though the latter three joined the elders, they hunted just as frequently as their kin, Slate, did. Well, except for the deaf Lichen. Blackfang eyed the four as they shared tongues from last night's measly pickings. Clearly, they had not eaten the night before. Neither had he, but he didn't say anything. It was more important for others, like Snowflake (who had joined the Clan because she had fallen in love with Weakpaw- but not his father) to eat prey before him.

He felt another pelt brush against his, and he nuzzled his sister, Tallpine. The medicine cat was still devastated by the death of her apprentice, Stalkingpaw, as well as the fact she couldn't save Slashstar. Pain still glimmered in her dark green eyes, and Blackfang rested his head on top of hers. "No medicine cat could've saved him," he murmured, knowing what she was thinking about.

Her body shuddered against his, and he winced as her bony shoulder jabbed into his neck. Before she could say anything, he demanded, "Have you been eating?"

She backed away from him and coughed harshly. "Yes."

Blackfang glared at her, his gray eyes sharp. His nose, strong thanks to his apparent power, picked up the musty scent on her, hidden by herbs. His whiskers twitched. _A cat with a regular nose would only pick up the herbs. This will come in handy. _"You haven't been taking care of yourself like you should be," Blackfang meowed firmly. "You're so important to ShadowClan. Don't you realize that if…"

"If I die, there are other medicine cats," Tallpine rasped. But she reached up and head-butted his cheek. "But I'll eat today, I promise. At times, herbs seem more appetizing than the stringy squirrels they catch around here…" She trailed off and walked away, leaving Blackfang agreeing with her. _I miss lizards and frogs. _

He trotted over to the apprentices' den, deciding to take Weakpaw out. He despised the name Scarletblood had given him. _I'm going to call him something different. Like… Strongpaw! Because he is strong for having gotten this far in spite of his size. Let's see how Scarletblood likes that. _

One by one, the apprentices filed out: Auburnpaw, Dawnpaw, Fawnpaw, Tammy, Tunnel, Prickle. There was no sign of Blackfang's apprentice. The black tom poked his head into the den, lips curled into a concerned frown. _I know they didn't bully him too much, but did they really weave him into the den roof? _

There was a faint tap on his shoulder, and Blackfang whirled around, startled. In front of him was Weakpaw, staggering under the weight of an enormous vole. Immediately Blackfang snatched it from him, and the sun-colored tom sighed in relief.

"Wow! Did you catch this all by yourself?" Blackfang exclaimed in awe, shooting a glance at Scarletblood to see if the arrogant tom had seen what his son caught. But the deputy was too busy talking to the SkyClan deputy, Foxsnarl. Bristling, Blackfang gazed back down at Weakpaw.

"N- no," he squeaked breathlessly. "It was just on the fresh-kill pile. I actually think, er, Dawnpaw caught it yesterday." His tone was sheepish, and he shuffled his paws, his disappointment in himself palpable.

"Well, at least you're being honest," Blackfang assured him, touching his nose with the small cat's. _And not stuck-up like your father. _He sighed and straightened up again, offering the fresh-kill to his trainee. Weakpaw gladly accepted, and they munched in silence. Between themselves, they still couldn't finish it, so Blackfang thought to have Weakpaw deliver it to Tallpine.

It wasn't until the bright-furred tom was dragging the vole in direction of where his sister was sitting with Beetlewing when Blackfang realized how utterly they had broken the warrior code. _I listened to my rumbling belly over the code I swore to when I earned my warrior name. _He unsheathed his claws and buried them in the earth, blinking curiously as he glimpsed Yellowglint pad by him, an excited Bluepelt in tow. He arched his brow and stepped in his friends' path.

"You're not training your apprentice today?" he quizzed Yellowglint. "You know, she caught a very large and delicious vole. It was big enough to feed three cats, maybe four."

"I decided to give Dawnpaw the day off as a reward," Yellowglint retorted tersely. "And I know, I was there when she got it."

Blackfang rolled his eyes. "Don't you want to reward her be giving her more knowledge—" He was cut off as someone bumped roughly into his side, and together Blackfang and the other cat toppled to the ground in a heap.

Hissing in irritation, Blackfang pulled himself out from under the other cat, who was so skin-and-bones, the black tom felt he would have bruises where the warrior's elbows had poked into his spine.

"I'm so sorry!" the cat apologized profusely, jumping up. With a tinge of shock, Blackfang recalled him to be Redfur, the SkyClan cat who had been part of the patrol that brought the Clans to the gorge.

"I- it's okay," Blackfang grumbled, licking at his ruffled chest fur. "Just… watch where you're going." There was still a bit of a growl in his throat, though it was barely audible. But many cats were still watching them, and Blackfang's ears reddened as he ducked behind Bluepelt.

"I totally wasn't. I, er, I will from now on," Redfur replied. His ears were erect, and he leaned forward a little, looking puzzled. "Why are you growling?"

"Because I thought a badger had careened into me!" Blackfang hissed, additional surprise fizzing in his curled paws. _How could he hear that? I was hardly—_

Weakpaw rolled up, juice from the vole still dribbling down his chin, and smudges of blood from the prey were all over his pale coat. But he still looked proud of himself, and lifted his chin. "Successfully delivered, Blackfang!" he chirped. Blackfang had never thought he'd seen the beat-up little kit so happy.

For some reason, Redfur was still sitting there, catching his breath. Blackfang shot a hard glance his way, but the red tom was unfazed, meeting him with icy amber eyes. _He's the fifth cat. _Blackfang straightened his legs, took a step, and nearly fell on top of Yellowglint.

"Did that fall make bees get into your brain?" Yellowglint uttered to him under her breath. "What's wrong with you."

"Find Greeneyes," Blackfang ordered her, motioning to Bluepelt for her to go to the empty warriors' den. "We need to talk."

He gently dismissed Weakpaw, who bounced over to Fawnpaw after tripping a few times. Even after Blackfang turned around and started toward the cave where he slept, he still felt those copper eyes burning into his back.

* * *

**O.O**


	7. The Uncomfortable Love

**Here's another Redfur chapter, enjoy and happy holidays!**

* * *

Redfur had stampeded into that ShadowClan warrior on purpose.

It was the exact same scent that was on one of the tufts of fur clinging to the fence. He curled his claws into the ground, still watching the friends until their distinctive pelts melted into the shadow of the warriors' den. In addition, the she-cats' scents matched the chunks of fur of the same color. Redfur had no doubt this "Greeneyes" had brown tabby fur.

_I could come up with some excuse. Need to take a nap… even ordered to by Snake—_

He was caught off-guard by Fireflower, who bowled into him just as he had rammed against Blackfang. He squealed like a kit, and the ginger she-cat snickered at him. But instead of laughing with her, Redfur gazed into her eyes with a hint of seriousness. _Please. This is important, _he willed her silently. _I can't go messing around with you now— _

"Yes!" Fireflower burst out. "Oh, Redfur, yes, I will!" She pushed against him again, but this time much gentler, simply nudging his cheek.

Redfur numbly nuzzled her in return. _What did I do? _

She leaned in even further, if that was possible, and whispered to him, "I love you."

His tongue seemed to have dropped out of his mouth and squelched far away. His mouth was drier than a dead leaf. Yes, they had admitted their feelings for each other before, but this was… not exactly private. To his great horror, Redfur caught Foxsnarl's eye from across the clearing. The russet tom was simpering and wiggled his brow.

Redfur found himself burying his claws even deeper in the earth, almost holding himself steady against Fireflower's nuzzles, which were gradually becoming rougher. He twisted his neck and captured Foxsnarl's attention again. "What do I do?" he mouthed to Fireflower's brother.

Dismissively Foxsnarl raised one paw. Then he rose to his paws and walked over to them, plastering on a faux stern expression. He winked at Redfur just before Fireflower looked up.

"Just what are you two doing?" Foxsnarl said in, again, a fake disapproving tone.

Fireflower narrowed her eyes. "We have an announcement to make," she meowed, dodging his question.

Foxsnarl flattened his ears. "If it's that you're mates, I hardly find that believable. I didn't even hear Redfur ask you."

Right then Fireflower met Redfur's eyes again, and the SkyClan warrior's heart leapt into his mouth in replacement of his absent tongue. Since she wasn't staring at her brother defiantly at the moment, Foxsnarl then motioned to him. Redfur didn't get it right away, so the tom sighed inaudibly and mouthed, "Ask her _now_!" After a moment of hesitation, he added, "Or you'll be in deep dirt!"

Redfur swayed on his paws. Gazing into Fireflower's amber eyes, swollen with love for him, made him feel like he was on the tallest mountain peak, yowling his glee to the stars, the pleasantly frosty air biting at his nose and ears. Something fluttered in his stomach, and Redfur was shocked to hear himself mew firmly, "I _did _ask her, as a matter of fact, Foxsnarl. And if you don't approve of us, well… you can't break true love, can you?"

At first Redfur thought his words didn't make any sense… _break true love… ? _But Foxsnarl's eyes were glittering with water. He had lost his mate, Brightfrost, to kitbirth. Three of their four kits were taken as well, leaving only Auburnpaw. It was clear Foxsnarl would never fall out of love with Brightfrost, no matter how long he had to wait before he saw her again.

"Fine," Foxsnarl grumbled, his voice not as sturdy this time. He stalked off, but managed to sneak in a warm wave of his tail when Fireflower was focused on her paws.

Gulping, Redfur looked into Fireflower's optics again, and took a very subtle step away. She was most certainly beautiful, but her breath… not so much.

"So… I suppose we are, then," Fireflower mumbled. She absently lifted a paw and began to gnaw on one claw.

Redfur inclined his head to lick his chest fur, heat spreading under his fur like wildfire. "Erm, yeah, I suppose we are…"

Still wondering what had happened to his old self, the suave side of him swept his tail under her chin, and she lifted herself up a little. Just when she parted her jaws to speak something, Redfur leaned forward, put his paw on hers, and pressed his nose on hers. In return, she licked him.

**OoOoO**

"Yeah, haven't seen Cardinal in ages… she was expecting kits, wasn't she?"

"Indeed she was. It'd be funny if we saw her again…"

Robin and Rust's hushed conversation filled Redfur's ears as he lay sprawled in his nest, one leg slung halfway across Fireflower's empty nest. The ginger she-cat had gotten up ages ago to go hunting, and now her bedding was severely chilly. Redfur shifted, pulling his leg back among his own moss. He didn't know nor care who Cardinal was. _I just want to get out of here and find those four cats, _he thought, desperately scanning the den, still empty besides him and the two former rogues.

Abruptly Redfur stood up, ignoring the protests of his sore muscles and creaking bones. He took a shaky step forward, and the pain of his ribs poking into his legs was suddenly more prominent. The memory of his last meal was fuzzy. _What, a shrew two days ago? _

His mouth was unbelievably dry too. Quenching his thirst was now first on his list, and he waited until he had silently left the den to release his coughing fit. He only attracted the attention of Blaze and a RiverClan queen, Jumpingspirit, who were watching their kits play-fight by the nursery.

Redfur offered them a wan smile before hurrying over to the trickle of water at the side of the clearing, not even noticing who was under the rocky overhang as he passed it. All he could think of was cool water meeting his lips, filling in the dry cracks, pooling into his mouth and sliding down his throat like thin honey. Staggering from the pain, Redfur finally was able to throw himself down at the slippery bank, hoisting himself forward a bit so he could plunge his face into the water. How refreshing it was, how cold, how heavenly… For a moment Redfur lost himself, allowing numbness to spread throughout his body, blocking the pain of his brittle bones, the constant, dull discomfort from his overworked muscles. It was all just swept away, all of his problems, in one immense tidal wave…

For a long time, the sound of the water, surprisingly loud and roaring when you were submerged in it, was all he was aware of. Then in a sudden rocket back to reality, Redfur was yanked upward and tossed to the side of the creek, pebbles jabbing into his visible spine.

He groaned as it all came rushing back to him, a brand-new tsunami of _Fireflower, food, crowded, pain, waterlogged… _

"Oh, be more careful with him, Blackfang!" mewed a worried female voice. For some reason, and he knew he was out of the water, Redfur still heard the water rushing by. It was louder than ever, and it pounded along with the voices.

"Oh, no, did he drown? The poor cat, the last thing you did to him was growl like he was moon-old dirt!"

"Stop, stop. He still has a pulse. He's just out of it. Here, I know what to do—"

"You will _not _do that—"

"I've seen my sister do it, and she's the medicine cat," insisted the deep male voice. "She's made so many cats come to by doing this, says she learned it from her mentor."

Heartbeats later, a fresh explosion of pain erupted on Redfur's right cheek. He screeched and leaped to his paws, breathing laboriously as his cheek throbbed after being slapped. However, his whiskers twitched in bemusement and relief as he recognized three cats in front of him: the ShadowClan tom, Blackfang, whose paw was still poised in the air; the energetic WindClan she-cat, Yellowglint; and the commonly mellow but now exasperated RiverClan warrior, Bluepelt. A few fox-lengths away, under the rocky overhang, was a brown tabby tom who Redfur had little reason to doubt was Greeneyes.

"He seems to be okay!" Greeneyes called. "C'mon, bring him over here."

Blackfang made a move to pick up Redfur by his scruff, as the black tom was much taller, but Redfur leaned away and uttered in a horribly scratchy tone, "I can walk."

Casually, he cleared his throat and limped after the she-cats to the overhang, aware of Blackfang right on his heels, hot breath stirring the fur on his neck. Redfur sighed and was highly delighted when he could collapse in the shade of the overhang, between Greeneyes and Bluepelt.

Redfur's feeling of joy ebbed as all their stares penetrated him. The silence was disrupted when Blackfang grunted, "You smell sick."

Redfur's stomach turned as Bluepelt added, reaching forward and licking his shoulder soothingly, "When's the last time you washed?"

Yellowglint pawed the ground uncertainly. "You can stop trembling. You're making the ground shake…"

"Wha- stop! No, I'm not!" Redfur burst out, glaring at them all. He finally settled on glowering at Greeneyes. "Do you have something to say, too?"

Greeneyes blinked apologetically, his exceedingly bright optics raking through his pelt. "Well… did you ever notice you had some spots on the fur behind your ears?"

"He seems so timid, probably too afraid to turn and look at his tail," Yellowglint muttered.

Anger made Redfur's skin flush red, and in an instant he wished he was by the cool brook again. "I heard that!" he spat to her.

Unlike a reaction any other normal cat would have to that, Yellowglint let out a purr of triumph. "Yes! I knew it!" She looked at her friends. "His power is extra hearing."

"Power?" Redfur snorted. "Please. I'm just like any other cat."

Greeneyes gazed at him, his eyes so bright, Redfur felt like he was staring at two emerald suns. "No, you're not like any other cat, Redfur."

* * *

**Yay, the five besties!**


	8. The Mountain Peaks

**Welcome to another update of Colorful Bliss! Can we try to get at least ten reviews? This story is not as popular as my others :C**

* * *

Redfur looked truly scandalized, and Yellowglint couldn't resist a laugh at his stupidity.

"What is it now?" snarled the SkyClan warrior, breathing heavily under a pelt still sodden with water. The wetness made his fur slick, and the bold redness of his coat shined even more brilliantly in the sun.

Yellowglint stopped her giggling for a few moments to meow, "I hope you have a mate."

Redfur inflated his chest. "'Course I do," he said stiffly. "Now, what's so funny?"

Greeneyes smiled in as friendly a way as he could, but it turned into a grimace and the tabby dropped the grin. "Redfur, you're going to have to stick with us from now on."

The young warrior had been combing through his coat with his tongue in an attempt to smooth down the spikes, but he now froze. Redfur recovered himself quickly, however, and growled, "What?"

"Oh, for StarClan's sake, didn't you pay attention to how your mother cleaned you?" Bluepelt burst out, leaping forward and rasping her own tongue over Redfur's pelt. She licked his fur the wrong way, and before Redfur could resist she was already done. "Let your fur sit like that, and it'll dry much faster," the RiverClan she-cat finished.

Redfur now appeared to be further offended, but he didn't even let a growl escape his curled lip. He just stared expectantly at Greeneyes.

"The Clans are failing, Redfur," Greeneyes meowed, speaking in a tone that was so serious it wiped off the simper on Yellowglint's face. "There's no denying it. Already two powerful leaders have gone down- SkyClan's and ShadowClan's. Who knows who's next?"

"And there are deputies," Redfur shot back. "If they would just go to the—"

Greeneyes shook his head. "There's a reason Snakestripe and Stripepelt haven't gone to meet with StarClan. There's something wrong." He sat back, apparently very satisfied with himself. "And we're going to find out what."

Blackfang's gray eyes flashed with something Yellowglint had never seen him display before: fear. "Are you saying StarClan is not traveling with us anymore?" he demanded, his deep voice piercing the conversation abruptly. "That they're not in the skies above? But they gave us our powers back at the rock pile…"

Redfur looked utterly confused, and Yellowglint quickly explained, "The rock pile was one of our major stops on the journey away from hom— the lake."

"Speaking of getting powers…" Greeneyes murmured, thoughtfulness making his vibrant optics glow. "Redfur, was there ever a, er, red sky here at the gorge?"

"And during the time that red sky was there… you felt as if you could do anything in the world?" Bluepelt asked mystically.

"No," Redfur answered bluntly. "And I've told you lot already, I don't have any power."

Yellowglint leaned forward, now troubled. _He had to have seen a red sky! Otherwise how could he be able to have this ability? _"You do have a power!" she insisted, her hackles rising a bit, but she didn't even notice. She raked the clearing and then gestured fiercely to where most of the elders were crouched against the blustery winds, talking in hushed tones. "What are they saying?"

Redfur blinked at Spark, Littleflower, and Blizzard and replied, puzzled, "Um, surely you hear them? Complaining about the weather as usual…" He trailed off, then gasped. "You're right! I _can _hear well." He stood up and spun to face the dying forest. "I can hear a squirrel scrabbling on a tree over there…" He beamed and glanced back at the four other cats gathered around him. "It's all magnified!"

Bluepelt lowered her voice. "So we should be whispering, right, so we don't hurt your ears?"

"No need for that," Redfur responded, now looking quite smug and purring. "It's only far away things I can hear. Right around me, it's just normal."

Yellowglint could feel his purring traveling through the earth in waves, and chuckled. "Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm glad you're here and finally understanding."

Blackfang inclined his head. "The prophecy is complete."

"But the question is," Greeneyes added, glaring at Yellowglint and Bluepelt as they made funny faces at each other, "the question is, why haven't—"

"Can't we just have a restful day for once?" whined Yellowglint. _I swear, he always finds something to worry about!_

Bluepelt frowned and restored her face to its normal appearance. "Greeneyes is right, though. We have these powers for a reason, and that reason is to…"

"To… ?" Redfur meowed expectantly, raising his brow at Greeneyes.

The brown tabby clucked his tongue, and swerved his small shoulders to smile helplessly at Yellowglint.

Yellowglint scoffed, "It's not obvious?" When they all just stared at her, she sighed and went on, "We have our powers to help and protect StarClan, just as StarClan protects all four—" Redfur looked meaningfully at her and she corrected herself, "— five Clans."

Greeneyes' jaw dropped. He gazed around at the others, still gaping. "Smartest thing I ever heard her say!"

He received a harsh shove from Yellowglint, who then inquired pressingly, "Well, isn't that right? StarClan probably picked us because we all have a connection…"

"Our names," Redfur agreed.

"And more than our names," Blackfang piped up. "Despite us all being from different Clans, we each share qualities that make us work well together." He waved a paw almost lazily in Yellowglint and Bluepelt's direction. "Example A: Yellowglint and Bluepelt both have a sense of humor no one else quite understands."

The ShadowClan warrior pointed to Greeneyes and then to himself. "Then there's me and Greeneyes, both of whom have suffered a loss, whether a loved one or…"

But suddenly, Yellowglint wasn't listening to him anymore. Instead, she was staring at the distant mountains again, at the same two peaks that had caught her attention before. She didn't realize she was muttering aloud when she said, "They look even more like cat ears…"

"What?" Bluepelt grunted, leaning close so she could whisper in her ear under Blackfang's explaining. "What looks like cat ears?"

"I- it's nothing," stammered Yellowglint, feeling her ears flush red. _What is wrong with me? _The urge to stand up and get away grew strong in her, and she knew what she wanted to do. _Go to those mountains… someone I need to meet is there…_

"Yellowglint, what are you waiting for? C'mon!"

Her head snapped upward so fast she heard her neck crack. "Wha… ?"

Everyone else was already halfway across the clearing, excitement pulsing off of them through the ground that made Yellowglint dizzy. She rose to her full height and stumbled like a newborn toward them, the edges of her vision becoming misty. Alarm at this made her rump smack right down onto the ground.

She barely registered Bluepelt nudging her shoulder. "Let's go, Redfur needs to show us something!" her friend urged.

"No, I need to stay," Yellowglint objected, stunned at how strong her voice sounded when she was so weak that her forelegs were trembling with the effort of holding the front part of her body up.

Bluepelt hesitated, but then exhaled sharply and grunted, "Fine. I'll tell you all about it when we get back." She paused once more, then scampered off like a thrilled apprentice leaving camp for the first time. "Later!" she called over her shoulder.

Yellowglint didn't acknowledge her farewell. Instead she mechanically shuffled to the warriors' cave, where she chose a nest that was most definitely not her own and curled up. Her eyelids closed as forcefully as if paws were pushing on them.

She blinked open her eyes and discovered herself in a foggy field. In the very far distance was not the sharp-peaked mountains like she expected, but an enormous lake. Several trees seemed to be growing out of the water, and Yellowglint was perplexed by this. _Oh. Must be islands! _This thought reassured her much more than it should have, and she collapsed with relief.

Tendrils of fog were emerging from the low-hanging clouds, and Yellowglint watched them, her chin on the earth, mesmerized. Gradually the snake-like strands started to take shape. Two triangular ears, a round face, a pair of almond-shaped eyes…

Eventually a wispy cat had formed, staying still until, at last, a tail had been attached to its backside. Then it sprang to life, gazing down at Yellowglint. At once she recalled who it was.

"Great StarClan!" Yellowglint breathed, pulling herself upward. "N- Nettlethorn?"

The hauntingly familiar face of her deceased brother lifted as his lips curled into a smile. "Yellowglint," he meowed, his grin abruptly falling to a solemn frown. His voice was strangely echoing, burning in her ears, making the ground quake.

"So StarClan is with us after all," she whispered, another wave of respite washing over her.

Nettlethorn turned away, now under the shadow of one of the foggy clouds, making him difficult to see. She was reminded of their old arguments they used to have, and he would always turn his back to her before the height of the fight. Yellowglint kneeled a little, waiting for him to whirl around and yowl to the heavens.

However, he only uttered a couple words. "Not exactly."

Yellowglint stiffened. "Are you saying you're not in StarClan?"

The gray tom only twisted his head so he could face her, his blue eyes mournful. "I am not a member of StarClan," he began.

Horror engulfed her. "But you've never done one terrible thing to land you in the Dark—"

"I'm not a member of the Place of No Stars, either," Nettlethorn interrupted. "I chose a different path that only two other cats have been known to follow after death."

Yellowglint was speechless. Her throat constricted as she tried to conjure up something to say, but was fruitless. _Another option besides StarClan? _

"It is a path that is horrific at times, which explains why it is very uncommon," continued her brother. "But now I am glad to have picked it, as unfortunately StarClan is far away from here."

She could only make a sound in her throat that did not really sound like anything.

"When I was taken by the cough, I met our dear mother, Rainpuddle. She was prepared to lead me up to StarClan, but another cat arrived all of a sudden."

Yellowglint blinked.

"Our father," he said.

Mixed emotions exploded inside her, but the only thing she let out was his name. "Falconfeather," she muttered.

"Yes," Nettlethorn said. "Falconfeather looked somewhat upset he had not gotten there first." He turned the rest of the way around and sat down before Yellowglint, faint curls of fog leaving his pelt. "He then offered me a life, he said, that was 'far different from StarClan, but riveting and unique'. Naturally, I was curious, so I decided to go with him, leaving behind Rainpuddle.

"We traveled long and far through the skies, and before long we were nowhere but what appeared to be in the middle of a cloud. He told me to take a rest, and that when I woke up I would feel much better. Well, I roused… and I was no longer solid. Falconfeather turned up his nose at me when I protested. He claimed I would never be a real cat with fur and bones again. Then he abandoned me, racing back the way we had come. I couldn't chase him right away, because I was getting used to my new form. By the time I had discovered how to walk- er, glide," he said, demonstrating by floating about a little, "he was too far away. I have to live like this for eternity now. Goodness knows why I agreed to go with him."

Yellowglint spat in anger. This just confirmed her hatred for Falconfeather. When they were kits, he was discovered with another she-cat, and even worse, an eleven-moon-old apprentice. Their mother was devastated and would not eat for days. It took the persuasion of Yellowkit and Nettlekit to convince her to keep going. Falconfeather ended up forcing that apprentice to have his kits as soon as she was a warrior. The kits died because they were born too early, as well as their weakened mother. Rainpuddle had watched without flinching as Falconfeather consumed deathberries, and he somehow ended up in StarClan.

"I- I thought he might have changed," Nettlethorn rasped sadly. "But I was wrong."

Yellowglint shook herself, driving away the painful memories. "Nettlethorn, promise you'll visit me again," she pleaded.

"I cannot be sure I can—"

"Please!" she begged.

"Fine," Nettlethorn gave in with a sigh. "I promise."

Yellowglint beamed at him until her brother went on, "But you must promise me something, too."

She purred, "Of course, anything."

Nettlethorn lowered his head and murmured, "Do not tell the other destined cats that StarClan is not with the Clans. It is for no one to find out for a long while, and the responsibility of bringing StarClan back belongs to cats who have yet to be born."

Yellowglint hesitated before agreeing. "B- but how will we survive without our ancestors?"

Nettlethorn gazed at her. "It is something of a test, though StarClan never intended it to happen. I promise you, though, that one day StarClan will return to the Clans. But in the meantime, it is up to you and the other destined cats to keep your Clanmates going. Do you promise you will do all you can?"

Yellowglint drew in a breath, goggling past her brother at the distant lake. Then she dipped her head and whispered, "I promise."

* * *

**Are you, are you, coming to the tree... (love that song!)**


	9. The Kit Fight

**Thank you so much, Californian! It is really touching to hear- well, I guess _see_\- you say that. So thank you for your commitment to this story :'D**

**Enjoy! Happy new year C:**

* * *

"So we were thinking of names," Raggedwing meowed, for once picking at his food instead of wolfing it down in one gulp.

Greeneyes nodded absently, though the twinkle of excitement in his brother's eyes was difficult to ignore. It was a few days after he had befriended Redfur; a few days later into leaf-fall; and a few days closer to Bark giving birth.

"Now, of course, my first choice would be Greenkit," Raggedwing added hastily, a clear attempt to recapture his sibling's attention. "But, well, you're not dead so…"

_Yet. But if I listen to this much longer I will be in due time…_

"Maybe Softkit? After our sister?" Raggedwing sighed and shook his head. "As opposed to Hardkit. Softpaw even said she never liked her name." He patted the parched earth under him and continued to mumble thoughtfully. "Dustkit? Dust_ed_kit? Dust_y_kit?"

"How 'bout Dogkit?" Greeneyes muttered under his breath before he could stop himself. Unfortunately, Raggedwing heard him and snapped to attention.

"An idea, Greeneyes?" He beamed widely. "Let's hear it!"

Irritation now solely controlling his actions, Greeneyes hissed faintly, "How about Dogkit, to go with their mother's name?"

Immediately a hurt look settled on his littermate's face. "She is named for her pelt, the same color as tree bark!"

Greeneyes licked his chops and exposed gleaming teeth in the process. "Really? I've never heard that excuse before. I thought she was named for her loud voice!" With that, he stood up and stalked away, fuming.

_I don't care what he thinks about that. He has all he wants and needs in the world; one less littermate wouldn't hurt him a bit._

He was startled by a strong female voice, not all that different from Bark's. Greeneyes looked around and found himself eye level with another brown she-cat: his apprentice, Tammy. He was still not completely used to how much she had grown. "Yes?" he growled.

Tammy narrowed her eyes at him. "Chill, big guy. There's something going on and I thought you would be interested in it since you're all spiritual and stuff."

Greeneyes nodded gratefully, temporarily letting go how she had basically called him loony. He nudged past her and shouldered through the cluster of various Clan cats until he was at the front. He found himself next to Redfur, and hesitated for a moment before leaning toward the SkyClan cat and uttering, "What's happened?"

Snakestripe, the SkyClan leader, was in a heated argument with their medicine cat, Kit. The ginger tabby she-cat was nose-to-nose with the enormous tom, and to do this she had to stand on her tiptoes.

Redfur dipped his head briefly in greeting then replied, "Kit still refuses to go to take Snakestripe to get his nine lives. He keeps threatening to go himself, but still hasn't so far. I personally think he's a coward who thinks StarClan will reject him if he goes without a medicine cat."

Greeneyes nodded in acknowledgement and watched the verbal fight curiously.

"Just go yourself, you big scaredy-mouse!" Kit spat, lashing her tail.

Snakestripe jabbed his nose against hers, his scarred muzzle twitching furiously. "I can go and I will… but what medicine cat doesn't want to visit their ancestors— oh, wait, you're a kittypet."

Kit rolled her eyes. "I'm not a kittypet, but if I am in your eyes, then why are you so intent on bringing me? If you show distaste towards cats like me, then surely you wouldn't want me to be present at this 'nine lives' ceremony of yours?"

"I'm sticking with tradition," seethed Snakestripe. "The medicine cat has always gone with the deputy to get their nine lives. And you dare to break that tradition?"

The former loner smirked. "I do dare to break that tradition"— several gasps erupted around the clearing— "if it means you won't be leading my new Clan."

Snakestripe's hackles lifted. "So you hate me, do you?" He bared his fangs. "I have every right to exile you from this Clan."

Kit arched her brow. "And SkyClan's new medicine cat will be?"

Snakestripe slammed his front paws on the ground, heat radiating off his pelt. "There are other medicine cats here!"

Just then, Stripepelt, ShadowClan's estranged leader, burst between them. "Stop!" he ordered sharply. Snakestripe now looked positively livid, but the gray tom didn't appear to notice. "Can we just agree that we don't need _–star _at the end of our names to be good leaders?"

Snakestripe whirled on him. "Why aren't you getting nine lives?"

Stripepelt was obviously pained to say what he meowed next. "Well, I think it's more fair if we're just as vulnerable as any other cat."

The SkyClan tabby scoffed. "Please! We need to be stronger and have more power to… to protect those under us!"

The other tom frowned. "I quite disagree. But go on arguing with your medicine cat if you wish."

Snakestripe spat at the ground, then spun and stormed off into his den. The tension in the air totally lifted once the big tabby had melted into the shadow of his lair, and Greeneyes even smiled at Redfur. "Good luck with him," the ThunderClan warrior meowed to him.

Redfur snorted. "Thanks; I'll need it. He hates my guts." He cast a rueful glance at where Snakestripe had disappeared, then added, "I- I think you have a right to know this, being in his presence. You… you should be forewarned."

Greeneyes' stomach twisted a little as he trailed Redfur out of the gorge and a few trees deep into the forest. Then the reddish-brown tom turned and faced the tabby with a gulp.

"Snakestripe was almost kicked from his position. You see, our old leader, Treestar… he told me I'm supposed to lead SkyClan to safety, kind of… away from the fire Snakestripe would bring us into. Well, I was arguing with Snakestripe one day, I found him eavesdropping on my conversation with another cat. He was with that cat's apprentice, Rainpaw. Snakestripe aimed a blow, I ducked, and instead he hit Rainpaw directly in the throat. She basically dropped dead."

A shudder passed through Greeneyes' spine. _He's a murderer! But how could he have gotten away with it…_

"I told Snakestripe that I was going to warn Treestar about him. Then Treestar would surely demote him, at the least, or better yet exile him. I don't care would become deputy next; at the time I hadn't had an apprentice yet, so I wouldn't expect it to be me. Well… we got back to camp slowly, and this gave Snakestripe plenty of time to invent a story about being attacked by a fox or something. He managed to disguise his scent somehow. We got back to camp with Rainpaw's body, and we found Treestar, our old medicine cat Frecklewish, and the most popular elder, Cherrytail being mourned. It was too late; Treestar had not appointed a new deputy, and now Snakestripe had to choice but to become leader, even if he didn't want to."

Redfur coughed and licked his chest fur, his anxiety over what Greeneyes would say palpable on his face.

Greeneyes heaved a sigh. "Thank you for telling me this. Not that I'm comforted… but I'm glad I know the truth." Redfur was still trembling, and awkwardly Greeneyes lifted a paw and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. It's not like he has an army that will kill you for letting slip—"

There was an abruptly crashing noise, meaning someone was approaching them rapidly through the dead and crunchy undergrowth. Greeneyes tensed, and inadvertently flung himself in front of Redfur, who grunted. Then two cats exploded from the bracken and yellow-tipped ferns.

Greeneyes curled his lip in surprise. "Yellowglint? Bluepelt?" He looked them up and down and felt another thrill of shock make his spine tingle. "Why are you all wet?"

"We're not _all _wet," Bluepelt pointed out stiffly, her cut-off tail kinked over her back. She saw him staring at her tail for a heartbeat, and immediately lowered it a little.

"Well, I don't know what you two have been sneaking off and doing, but know that your absence has been noticed," Greeneyes murmured. "Yellowglint, you have a bored apprentice who hasn't had a training session in two days."

Redfur offered a wan grin to the pair of annoyed she-cats then muttered to Greeneyes, "I'll leave you to your scolding."

Greeneyes parted his jaws to correct him, but before he could the SkyClan tom had already slipped away through two quivering bushes. The ThunderClan tabby cocked his head and watched the brush for a moment. Redfur wasn't too bad of a cat.

* * *

**I would ask a question, but only one person would answer it so XD**


	10. The Pond Sacrifices

**Thanks so much for the support! The number of readers for this may be small, but the amount of love you give this story makes up for that and more! Love you all :D And be sure to check the poll on my profile ^^**

* * *

Bluepelt wondered if it was unusual, weird, even, to be conspicuous about visiting a pond outside Clan borders.

It couldn't be weird or unusual to enjoy the feel of the water, which felt like liquid Moonstone, it was so pure and beautiful compared to the dusty and rocky gorge.

She could tell her fellow RiverClanners were suffering from their lack of knowledge of the Twoleg pool. Often, Thornkit's whining about the heat could be heard, only to be muffled by his mother's panting. Once Bluepelt even overheard Cinder remark to Ash how he longed to even just see a real river again. _I should tell them, _she thought. Then she decided it would be best not to. Already Greeneyes was breathing down her and Yellowglint's necks about it, and she could only imagine what Lightstar would say when he found them sneaking away from the home that had been opened up to them.

Ever since they had ran into Greeneyes and Redfur talking about who-knew-what, Yellowglint determined their new sneak-away time to be very early in the morning, so early, in fact, that it was still dark this particular day as Bluepelt roused. It had been roughly a half-moon since Greeneyes had been on their case, and so far the new routine was going well.

Chilly mid-leaf-fall breezes nibbled at her skin, and she fluffed up her fur against the cold as she met her friend just outside the red-brown rocky limits of the SkyClan camp.

"This is going to be one of the worst leaf-bares the Clans've ever seen," Yellowglint mewed over the howling wind.

"Yeah," grunted Bluepelt, stumbling along next to her. She was still too groggy to fully comprehend much of anything.

They worked their way through the forest, both gradually perking up as more and more frostbitten twigs poked their flanks and leaves crisp with ice crunched under their paws. Suddenly Yellowglint stopped, Bluepelt following her lead.

"What's up?"

"What if the pond is frozen?" pondered Yellowglint aloud, frowning slightly at her comrade and shuffling her paws in the leaf litter and ice mixture. "It's cold enough, it's possible…"

"We've gotten this far, we might as well make this trip worthwhile," Bluepelt retorted softly, bounding ahead and emerging from the rustling trees. She heard a hesitant sigh but soon Yellowglint's paws were pounding on her heels.

The two she-cats curved around the fence, its gleaming silver color nearly blinding them in the fading moonlight. They trotted right next to the Thunderpath, deserted at this time as most Twolegs were asleep in their nests just like the cats. Bluepelt contently tread over the worn path, knowing where the old pile of fox dung was and to jump over it, and the area of prickly sticks that they had to veer around. She knew it all, and was quite tired again by the time they finally crossed the oily black path and arrived at the bank of the pool. There wasn't a single chunk of ice in it, just inviting dark blue water.

"'Kay, Poolpelt, make it quick," Yellowglint said, sitting down gingerly at the edge of the water with chattering teeth.

Bluepelt halted at the edge. "Aren't you getting in too?"

"Um, I don't really want to wash off the, er, garlic," her friend mumbled lamely, meaning the garlic they had used to conceal their scent trail.

Bluepelt arched her brow and waited for the real answer.

"Fine, fine, Pickypondpelt! To be honest, I'm a WindClan cat, and I kind of scare myself when I go in the water… and like it."

"Suit yourself," snorted Bluepelt. She turned back around and plunged into the water. As soon as her head was under, the splashing sound from above the surface was silenced by the sereneness of the depths, and Bluepelt tried not to purr as she swam forward a little, eyes wide open and exploring the bottom of the pond. It was like nothing Bluepelt had ever experienced before with wild rivers: this pool was heated. She was surprised Yellowglint didn't want to give up turning into an icicle for this.

For a couple heartbeats, Bluepelt shut her eyes, gliding peacefully along. She was just preparing to return to the blistering surface when there was an explosion of bubbles beside her. Her optics flew back open and she grinned as the air pockets cleared, revealing Yellowglint. The WindClan warrior looked like she was on cloud nine as she drifted around, waving her tail and swimming sloppily but effectively for a non-RiverClan cat.

A little while later, Bluepelt's head broke the surface for her third air break. She rested for a while, catching her breath. She squinted back through the water, but couldn't make out Yellowglint. _Maybe sneaking up behind me to pull me back down? _She bit her lip, spinning around, but there was still no lanky shadow of a cat. Heartrate picking up a bit, Bluepelt forced herself all the way back into the warm water and reached out blindly. Her eyes were already stinging from being open in the water so much, so she resolved in keeping them closed and praying to catch onto something—

Some soaked, wispy fur snagged on an outstretched claw; Bluepelt wrapped herself around the struggling body, which went limp once the RiverClan cat was holding on to it, and propelled herself and the body back to the surface, and they erupted like lava surging out the top of a volcano, gasping for breath…

Bluepelt dragged Yellowglint's sodden, choking form to the bank and climbed out herself before finally gazing down at the WindClan she-cat.

Yellowglint's golden eyes were wild and pleading, and she still squirmed and jerked about a little as Bluepelt gasped. There was a slippery round Twoleg object wrapped around her friend's neck, cutting into the skin. There were other holes in the thin material, and Bluepelt tried to cut at them to get to the one strangling Yellowglint.

Swiftly, painfully, Yellowglint shook her head. A raspy, throaty voice rose up from her trembling lips: "Just get help. A medicine cat, someth—"

Bluepelt knew this night couldn't get any worse as she heard a distinct, sharp _grrr… ruff _behind her. She spun around, shielding Yellowglint from harm. The Twoleg who occupied the nest with the pond was facing away from them, struggling with something at the exit to its home. Connected to it by a thick tendril was, sure enough, a dog. The Twoleg's muffled grumbling could hardly be heard over the dog's shrill whines.

"It's gon' get loose an' we can' figh' it on our own," Yellowglint croaked, her speech slurred by the Twoleg object digging into her neck flesh. "_Go_, just go, please, an' get help!"

Bluepelt could only pray Yellowglint knew what she was doing, and she broke away from her friend, tearing over the lawn, the dog's barks fading behind her as she sped across the Thunderpath, over the small field, through the forest. She reentered the camp and could hardly breathe, as her journey had taken a quarter of the time it usually did. Though heavily winded, she spat to the brisk night air, "ATTACK! DOG! CHOKING!"

The first cat to emerge from the den was Ash; she could just see his pale gray form blundering toward her from the warriors' cave. He bent over the retching she-cat and repeated a yowling plea for help. Then he whispered in her ear, "It'll be okay. I don't know if it's a dog choking or a dog attacking, but just lead the way and…" He trailed off, and Bluepelt threw up her head. Dozens of warriors and apprentices were pouring out of the dens; yes, each individual Clan was small, but when put together it wasn't too shabby of a number.

She didn't care who came, she just breathlessly asked Ash to make sure a medicine cat came along as well. When there were shouts of "ready" moments later, Bluepelt gathered herself and scrambled back through the forest, over the field, and across the Thunderpath. The wind was even louder in her ears, screaming even more as she ran, the numbness was spreading, wasn't motion supposed to make one warmer…?

It had not been long at all since Bluepelt left and returned with backup; Yellowglint was still twitching feebly on the bank of the pool, and the Twoleg was just starting down the path that twisted by the pond with its dog. The hairless creature had scraps of fur on and was shivering madly; its grip on the dog was weakening.

Bluepelt registered more calls, and a small cluster of cats went over to Yellowglint, working at the choking object. Stem was there, glaring and setting down cobwebs, looking nothing more than perplexed by the task before him.

Bluepelt was too out of breath and exhausted to help with the dog. She crouched, shuddering, in a patch of longer grass and watched as the dog finally freed itself and met the cats head-on. It was far too difficult to recognize who was fighting; the pelts were all a mixture of dark blurs in the heightening dawn sun.

The Twoleg was standing, stricken, still clutching the snapped tendril with whitened paws. Then, rather stupidly, it started to jump all around and wave its paws desperately, but the dog paid no heed.

It was an enormous brute, with snapping jaws and drool flying off its jowls with every bite directed at a warrior. It was battling the cats feverishly, stunningly quick for its size and build, but still the felines moved faster and finally managed to drive it back to its Twolegs, whimpering.

Bluepelt stared at the injured cats and the spluttering Yellowglint, and wondered how much more she had to sacrifice for that pond.

* * *

**That darn pond XD**


	11. The Huge Ceremony

**Heyo, welcome back to another update!**

**Welcome to February... and... six more weeks of winter...**

* * *

"Cats, tonight is a night of several changes," boomed Lightstar from the pile of rocks in the center of the gorge.

"Rumors have been spreading like wildfire around the camp about what went on just a small while ago," Dovestar mewed, her ears barely reaching Lightstar's broad but raggedy shoulders. "The following is the truth: a warrior of WindClan was choking on a Twoleg object, apparently found at the bottom of a Twoleg's pond, while a dog was starting to attack her and a RiverClan cat. The said RiverClan cat returned to camp and called for help, then led a sizeable group of warriors back to the scene."

Ivystar cleared his throat. "Most of these warriors were, coincidentally, newer members of the Clans. So far, they have not received warrior names due to personal reasons, or their leader's pure laziness. Tonight, these cats in particular, however, have proven their loyalty to the Clans by fighting alongside their Clanmates and protecting the defenseless."

"So, without further ado…" mewed Stripepelt.

Snakestripe's reluctance was palpable as he grumbled, "I accepted them into the Clan, and now I have to give them warrior names like they were once kits and 'paws?"

Dovestar coughed meaningfully.

"… Sand, Robin, and Rust, please step forward," said the tabby gruffly.

Blackfang half-smiled as he watched the three cats emerge from the heart of the crowd, shock clear on their faces.

"Sand," Snakestripe began slowly. "You have been a loyal warrior of SkyClan, I suppose. So, er, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

The former rogues, unfamiliar with this ceremony, had huge, appalled eyes at hearing this. But the pale ginger she-cat croaked nevertheless, "I… yes? I, um, I do? I do."

"Smooth," grunted Snakestripe flatly. "From now on, your name will be Sandheart." Without even giving the audience time to cheer her new name, he went right on to Robin. "Robin, would you please—"

"Excuse me, Snake—"

"— step forward—"

"Snakestripe, I have a—"

"— and not interrupt, _thank you very much_," snapped the big brown leader.

Bravely, Robin yelled, "_Snakestripe, I would like to request that if you name me, you give my mate and kits Clan names too_!"

"_Fine_!"

Tallpine growled warningly, stopping Blackfang mid-snort as Blaze, along with her and Robin's sons, Flame and Flare, stumbled timidly out of the nursery. They were still blinking sleep out of their eyes. The scent of their uncertainty and confusion hung thick on the air.

"Lovely, you weren't even out to see your mate's naming ceremony," said Snakestripe.

"Naming… ? I'm sorry, we were just napping, but I heard Robin yelling and woke, I wanted to make sure everything was alright," Blaze murmured. She caught sight of Flame and Flare tripping over their own paws in front of her and whispered urgently, "I told you two to stay in the nur—"

Snakestripe sighed impatiently. "Your mate here wants you all to be renamed. So get up here, and don't dilly-dally."

Blackfang was nearly knocked backward by her fear-scent as the queen and her kits passed him. Blaze halted so suddenly from her fast walk that there was a cloud of dust, leaving Flame and Flare coughing violently as Snakestripe droned on over their hacking.

"Do you, parents, promise to uphold the warrior code and so-on-I-should-be-worrying-about-more-important-things?"

"Now, say it correctly, Snakestripe," Lightstar snarled.

Snakestripe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "… and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Robin meowed.

Blaze gulped. "Well, what a question…" she squeaked and glanced worriedly at her sons. "I do."

"Then your names shall be, oh, I don't know, I've put _so _much thought into this… Robinflight and Blazenose."

This time, there was space between Snakestripe's careless sentences for cheering. Blackfang joined in, even making up for last time by tossing in a couple "Sandheart!"s.

Flame and Flare's choking was finally over once the dust had cleared and Kit thumped their backs a few times. Snakestripe gazed down at them, unimpressed, and muttered, "These two kits were born into the Clan but given rogue names for some odd reason. Today I will fix that. From now on— _no_, you will not be promising to die for your Clan yet"— the two young toms' hopeful faces were rolled over a few times by a monster— "… you will be known as Flamekit and Flarekit."

Rust went on to be named Rustclaw, Kit and Spark refused to be given fresh names, and Ivystar stood up to address WindClan's former loners or rogues.

"I'm proud of all of you," the gray tabby meowed earnestly. "Stem, Caesar, and Thorn, up here, please."

Caesar sauntered right by Blackfang, so close that his ratty tawny fur brushed the ShadowClan cat's nose. The musky yet nauseating scent of smugness, too much pride, and a lackluster bathing job clogged Blackfang's overpowered nostrils.

"Stem, you saved a Clanmate's life tonight. Thanks to you, Yellowglint is still here with us with barely a scar to show," Ivystar praised the moody medicine cat. In response, Stem merely jerked his head like the approval was a bothersome fly. "I know it should perhaps be another medicine cat naming you, but I feel I should and since SkyClan's meeting place with StarClan appears to be off-limits, I will now grant you the name of Stemleaf."

Stemleaf's chartreuse eyes flashed against his waterlogged-grass-colored fur, and he stepped back with a nod.

Caesar was offered a name, but at the last heartbeat, the light tabby refused it and insisted that his old name lived up much more to his "handsome personality." He passed back by Blackfang, and this time the black tom could've sworn there was a hairball rising up in the back of his throat.

Thorn was named Thornbush, and then it was ThunderClan's turn. _But isn't it always ThunderClan's turn? _Blackfang thought jokingly, knowing how much that statement would irritate Greeneyes.

"You have proved yourselves to be not just any Clan cats, but _warriors_, tonight. Be proud! Be high and mighty!" Dovestar narrowed her eyes at a point over Blackfang's head. "Except you, Caesar," she uttered. "You could be exempt from that for a while."

The cream-colored she-cat didn't even have to ask Tammy to move forward. Bark and her mother, Stripes, declined being given a new name, but Bark's father Spots decided to give it a go.

"Tammy, you are a wily and safely ambitious apprentice. When I first laid my eyes on you, to say I underestimated you was an understatement; since then, I have really been proven wrong. It is not yet time for you to receive a warrior name, but until you complete your training you will be known as Earthpaw."

Earthpaw beamed and flounced back to take her seat beside her mentor, and Dovestar continued: "Spots, if I'm not mistaken, you were the first cat to get to the leaders and wake us when the incident tonight happened. Thank you for alerting us; this makes you as worthy of a name as anyone. From now on, you will be Spottedstone."

Lightstar performed RiverClan's portion of the large ceremony by renaming Cinder to Cindertail, Ash to Ashfall, Prickle to Pricklepaw, and Tunnel to Tunnelpaw.

Blackfang sat up a little straighter as Stripepelt announced ShadowClan's newest names: Dice to Darkpool and Slate to Slateclaw.

There was an enormous cheering for Sandheart, Robinflight, Blazenose, Flamekit, Flarekit, Rustclaw, Stemleaf, Thornbush, Earthpaw, Spottedstone, Cindertail, Ashfall, Pricklepaw, Tunnelpaw, Darkpool, and Slateclaw. Blackfang even reluctantly yodeled Caesar's name a few times since the conceited tabby _had _taken his nose down from being up in the air to viciously fight the dog. Blackfang had been relieved he wasn't called to the battle; of course he would have been determined to save Yellowglint and Bluepelt, but it would be like reliving the memory of Tabbystripe and his unborn kits' deaths.

He didn't think he could face that literal memory yet. For now, blocking it out was the best.

* * *

**Short chapter, and boring, I know. Next time will be more exciting and plot-driven!**


	12. The Horrific Discovery

**Here's another update, with a shocker at the end!**

* * *

There was something about Redfur's new friends that couldn't compare to spending time with any other cat; even Fireflower, Redfur was afraid to admit.

The SkyClan warrior found himself hanging around Greeneyes and the others more and more with each passing day.

In addition, with each passing day, the air grew more bitterly cold. Leaf-bare had already pushed its way into the gorge a half-moon ago, with the first substantial snowfall. And, as Redfur led Auburnpaw out of camp one frosty morning, it was obvious there was more snow on the air. Redfur decided to "question" his apprentice about this after one last longing look back at his friends.

"Auburnpaw, there's something peculiar on the air," he announced like it was a big mystery. "Something that I remember from half a moon ago. Can you smell it?"

The small she-cat stopped, looking terrified at the pop quiz. "Uh- umm…" She gulped loudly, and Redfur smiled encouragingly at her. "It's super cold, it numbs my nose." Auburnpaw leaned down and poked her nose into a petite bank of snow.

"That's it! Well done!" Redfur praised her, and her head snapped up, confusion crossing over her youthful features.

"What? Snow?" She blinked down at the bank, and then a smile appeared on her face and she scuffed her paws excitedly. "Oh! Yes! That's what I meant!"

Laughing, she and Redfur padded deeper into the forest, and even though the trees shielded them from the worst of the biting winds, there was still an unmistakable chill tainting every leaf and twig they tread on.

Redfur thought back to their training session yesterday. That had been battle moves day, so that meant today was hunting. He led Auburnpaw past the spot they had trained the previous sunhigh, all the way to an area where the trees were just starting to thin out, and about ten or so fox-lengths from the chain link fence.

"Woah! I don't think I've ever been this far away from camp before," Auburnpaw whispered, ecstasy making her gaze twinkle like twin StarClan warriors.

"Well, don't get too excited. We're not going to going to reach that fabled fence today," Redfur told her honestly.

Auburnpaw hopped from paw to paw like she needed to use the dirtplace. "But… it is real! Right?" She squinted past the decaying tree trunks. "I think I can see it from here."

Redfur frowned, and followed her gaze, studying a particularly large gap in the trees. She was right; a section of the fence could be seen, the silver Twoleg material not as shiny today with the sun cloaked by clouds. _I know it didn't use to be that visible from here. _Redfur scuffed his paws on the earth, and was shocked by how moist it was. _The forest floor this deep in the woods was always parched because it was spared from snowfall. _He glanced up at the sky that formerly couldn't be seen thanks to being blocked by evergreen trees. Redfur's gaze caught one gnarled tree in particular, and he followed it all the way back down to its half-rotted roots. _Now even the pines are bare. What's next, the rivers flow backwards? This isn't natural. _

He looked at his apprentice, and registered a pang of pity for her. _Auburnpaw hasn't ever seen a world with a lush forest overstuffed with prey, a world with regular weather patterns, and a world with a lone Clan with a healthy number of cats. _Then again, maybe it was good she didn't know all those wonderful things… at the very least, she couldn't miss them.

"Alright, alright, let's focus," he started, but was cut off by the sound of animated chatting slightly muffled by what was left of the sparse shrubs.

Redfur easily assumed it was other Clan cats, but still casually slid in front of Auburnpaw just in case. The rustling that indicated movement ceased, and the red tom stood frozen, his nose twitching as furiously as a rabbit's.

"Hello?" called Redfur tentatively. Now he had Auburnpaw's attention— she stared up at him with round, owl-like eyes, and he silently hushed her by sweeping his thin tail over her mouth.

The rustling started up again, and heartbeats later Yellowglint and Dawnpaw emerged, leaping over the low bushes. The WindClan she-cats were giggling, annoying like a woodpecker pecking when one is trying to sleep.

"Ugh! You just about scared the life out of us, chattering like a pair of starlings," Redfur mumbled, kicking leaves lamely toward them. Auburnpaw freed herself from his tail's slackened grasp and ran over to exchange even more chuckles with Dawnpaw.

"Killjoy much?" Yellowglint snarled, but it was playful, and a purr distorted her fake growl.

Suddenly, the rustling started up again. Redfur stiffened, gazing over the golden she-cat's shoulder. "There's more of you?"

Yellowglint glanced over her shoulder as well. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Out from the undergrowth popped Greeneyes and the newly-named Earthpaw. And moments behind them were Blackfang and Weakpaw.

"Thank StarClan there are other toms now," sighed Redfur. "I think I was getting she-cat fever—"

Blackfang arched a brow. "What? I thought you had a mate."

Greeneyes stepped forward, nudging the hesitant Earthpaw toward Auburnpaw and Dawnpaw. "Yeah, Fireflower seems like a nice enough she-cat."

Redfur opened his mouth to speak, but he could only make a faint noise in his throat before Yellowglint cut him off. "If you ask me, she's kind of clingy. If Redfur pays attention to anyone besides her for five plus heartbeats—"

"Well, Redfur has been kind of neglectful to her lately," Blackfang pointed out. "I always set aside time to spend with my sister, if she wasn't busy, and then the rest of the day would be with Tabbystripe, since I didn't have many friends in my own Clan."

Silence met his words. Redfur swallowed anxiously. He had heard very little about the black tom's deceased mate, and he was curious to learn more about Tabbystripe, though he had figured Blackfang was very sensitive concerning that subject.

"I'm… sorry," Blackfang murmured. "I know I haven't talked about her since she died." He heaved a breath, and for the first time ever Redfur noticed the warrior's sturdy voice crack a bit. "I… I- I try to keep thinking things are normal, but I don't know if normal these days means pretending Tabbystripe and our kits are back in the gorge, or pretending Tabbystripe never existed." He sat down heavily. "I see her in my dreams, and then one night I saw three little kits with her. But then two dissolved, like they were nothing more than smoke…"

"Don't apologize, first of all," Greeneyes said solemnly after there was some quiet to process Blackfang's words. "And what you need to do is live in a world you're comfortable with. A world _you _know you can handle. And I know that both of those options— pretending she's still here or pretending she never was there— are the wrong direction to be heading. You need—"

"I really hate interrupting you," Earthpaw mewed, dipping her head toward her mentor. Her only response was a livid look, and from Greeneyes' eyes, that was a powerful look. The light brown apprentice shuddered and murmured, "Again, I'm sorry. But I hear something really horrid and I just think it could be a danger to us."

Yellowglint twisted around, the fur on her neck prickling. Redfur could barely see the puffy scar circling her neck from a half-moon ago; most of the fur had grown back at this point, and the swelling and redness had finally decreased. "I hear something too," Yellowglint whispered. "Almost like river water gushing over rocks… like a…"

"A gurgling," Blackfang said, and Yellowglint met his gaze, nodding in agreement.

Redfur pricked his ears, and the sound came to him in full blast. Intrigued for a moment, the tom flattened his ears, and the sound faded to probably what a regular cat could hear. And when he perked them up again, the sound returned, magnified. He resisted a giddy grin; _I can control my power my pricking or flattening my ears! That way I won't be hearing every grunt from cats rolling over in their sleep in the middle of the night._

When he returned to the situation, he found that Yellowglint and Blackfang had already moved ahead to investigate, while Greeneyes, still looking quite sour, held back the jittery apprentices. Redfur padded cautiously after the first two, and by the time they were several tail-lengths closer to the fence, the volume of the sound made Redfur stagger. He decided to flatten back his ears, and met immediate relief. _Yellowglint and Blackfang can do the listening for now._

They shouldered through some more bushes, and finally turned up at the chain link Twoleg barrier. Redfur touched his nose to the cold material, and a shudder rippled down his spine. Then the SkyClan warrior poked his muzzle through one hole and peered into the bushes that used to be their medicine cat Kit's home.

In the heartbeats it took for him to disconnect with the fence, there was a horrified shriek, and the sound of paws pounding desperately against the earth. Redfur found himself closing his eyes and crouching down with unsheathed claws, prepared to defend himself again what he surely did not want to see. But wait…

_This is me a few moons ago. What I need to do to stand up and defend my friends. _One by one, Redfur opened his eyes and then unbent his slightly-shaky limbs. He faced the horror scene before him:

Blackfang was gone, and Yellowglint was walking, slowly, down the fence. Redfur began to follow her, hoping she wasn't possessed or anything. _Why is she walking? Where is Blackfang? _The golden she-cat's head lifted toward the top of the fence, and a low, disgusted moan escaped her throat. Redfur trailed her gaze, and couldn't stop himself from looking away right away.

"What…" He couldn't bring himself to say anymore. He found solace in stumbling forward so that his flank brushed hers.

He looked up at her face, which was blinking at him. Her face, usually upturned and smiley, was now puzzled and repulsed. And who could blame her?

Redfur wondered what could possibly bring a cat down low enough to murder a member of the same species. Redfur knew he'd never find satisfaction in burying his claws in the neck of another cat. Unless that cat deserved it, of course. But Snakestripe hadn't been the worst cat, right? _Or maybe I'm just thinking that, now that he's dead. _

The reddish tom could only wonder one more thing: what would bring a cat down low enough to impale a member of the same species on a cold, foreboding chain link fence?

* * *

**Yikes. Goodbye Snakey.**


	13. The Perfect Leader

**Here is another update! It's pretty morbid (well, I made it as PG-13 as I could). Enjoy, if you dare...**

* * *

Snakestripe had never been a particular favorite of Yellowglint's. But to see his end, so brutal, so sudden, like this….

Blackfang had took off after the thin white tail they'd seen disappear behind the brush, but he returned with zero murderous rogues squirming in his grasp.

"It was a she-cat," Blackfang growled, churning the earth in frustration. "Seems like the entire forest was drenched in her scent, a salty tang… or maybe that's just his blood." Blackfang was trembling violently, and Yellowglint was afraid she'd lose her footing if she wrapped her tail around his shoulders. "White tail. She had a skinny white tail, a tail I could've just snagged on my claw…" He raised a paw adorned with unsheathed claws, as if he were imagining snatching up the mysterious she-cat by the tail like a mouse.

"No one could've caught her, not even the fastest WindClan cat," Yellowglint insisted. Under normal circumstances, she might've added, _And the fastest WindClan cat is me, of course! _But _of course _that was extremely inappropriate timing. She was almost ashamed for even thinking about a joke.

Redfur mumbled something unintelligible, and Yellowglint said, "What?"

"I said," Redfur repeated, "I said I should go back to Greeneyes and the apprentices and send them back to camp. You know, before we come through with t- the…" He choked on his words, his tongue flopping around like a fish out of water. Finally he managed to get out, "… well, you know."

"Good idea," Blackfang agreed. His fur had finally flattened a little after his failed pursuit. "The apprentices don't need to see that, especially Strongpaw."

The others glanced at him, confused. Well, at least Yellowglint did; Redfur seemed stuck staring hollow-eyed at his paws.

"That's what I'm calling Weakpaw," Blackfang explained hastily, his voice as low as ever. "Since the name his father gave him is a cruel name. I want him to have some faith in himself. Some self-esteem goes a long way…"

"Oh," Yellowglint said dumbly. She looked from tom to tom, and then added softly, "But there's one problem with Redfur's plan. We all know Greeneyes— he's going to ask what we found, or insist that he help us. To be honest, I think I should be the one who goes to tell him to take the apprentices to camp. No offense, but I'll be able to convince him the best."

Redfur dipped his head, and Blackfang grunted his consent. Yellowglint filed past them, and felt a flash of relief that she wouldn't have a touch Snakestripe's body. Well, probably not.

She passed under the sparse treetops, skirting around fallen branches of prickly bushes. Finally she came upon the clearing where Greeneyes and the apprentices were all waiting.

The ThunderClan tabby was pacing, his severe gaze fixed firmly on the ground. Auburnpaw, Dawnpaw, and Weakpaw— Strongpaw— were all playing a silly little game, while Earthpaw remained a spectator, watching them curiously.

"Greeneyes," Yellowglint meowed, forcing her mew to sound as cheerful as she could.

He turned on her and yelled, "You've all been gone for ages! I was starting to think a fox gobbled the three of you up—" He stopped short, his nose twitching vehemently. "Do I smell blood on your fur?" Luckily, the brown tom had lowered his voice significantly so that not even Earthpaw, who was partially glancing in their direction, appeared to overhear.

"Never mind that, you'll find out soon enough," Yellowglint began.

"And _rogue_?" Greeneyes narrowed his striking optics as he thrust his muzzle closer to her bristling pelt. "Did you all take a trip through Twolegplace even after you nearly choked to death?"

Yellowglint lashed her tail. "You're treading on thin ice, pal. I just came to tell you to take the apprentices back to camp. Please," she added in a final desperate maneuver.

To her utter shock, he didn't argue with words, only with an irritated look. "Fine," Greeneyes grumbled. He walked over to the apprentices and nudged them, one by one, through a gap in the brush. "Back to camp, now. No dilly-dallying." He twisted for one last stern look over his shoulder, like he was confirming that he would indeed be caught up soon.

She nodded curtly, just once, and then whirled around and headed reluctantly back to Redfur and Blackfang.

She found Redfur standing, shivering, at the base of the fence, and staring up at the ShadowClan warrior, who was clawing his way, unhurriedly, Yellowglint noted, to Snakestripe.

"Do you need help?" she called up to Blackfang, praying he would say no.

"Actually, yeah," Blackfang said, his voice strained from the effort of scaling the fence in a short amount of time. He balanced his way over to the pole on the fence where Snakestripe was impaled.

Yellowglint swallowed back a groan and began to climb toward Blackfang and the bloody mess. She wasn't the most professional climber, since her paws were better at running over tough moor grass than scraping bark, but climbing was honestly an instinctual thing, and Yellowglint had already gotten the hang of it quite fast.

Once she was balancing atop the fence, she was a bit repulsed by how Blackfang could easily blink down at the body. Meanwhile, if Snakestripe was even in Yellowglint's peripheral vision, like now, bile rose in her throat. The pole sticking through his chest was so unnatural, so disgusting…

"Okay, I need you to help me de-impale him," Blackfang meowed, like he was explaining the hunting crouch to an eager new apprentice. "Take one of his hind legs and guide it upward. I'll… I'll take his head. Ready?"

She gingerly took one of Snakestripe's hind paws in her teeth, almost feeling worried he would feel pain if she bit down on his leg. She nodded in reply to the living tom.

"Alright… one…" Blackfang grunted with effort as he began to yank it skyward. Yellowglint winced around the bloodied tabby fur; gentle was not currently a word in Blackfang's vocabulary. Nevertheless, the WindClan warrior also lifted the leg. "Two…" They were nearly there. "And three."

Snakestripe's body was un-impaled, and now dangled limply, heavily between the two cats. There was an audible moan from Redfur below.

"How exactly are we gonna do this?" Yellowglint mumbled, still holding the SkyClan leader's leg. "And we better hurry, or else Greeneyes is gonna come running back here, probably with Bluepelt. She'll be upset she was kept out of the loop too."

"Well, they won't be out of the loop for much longer. No one will be 'out of the loop'," Blackfang countered darkly. "Anyway, I would've suggested tossing him down to Redfur, but for one, I think the living cat would faint, and two, we might as well treat the leader or deputy or whatever he was of SkyClan with respect. So I suppose we'll have to climb down while holding him."

Yellowglint merely made a noise in her throat in response, and started to slide her way back to the ground, keeping firm paw-holds in the holes of the fence along the way. Thankfully, she and Blackfang made it back to Redfur successfully, though Yellowglint was worried she might bite the dead tom's paw off, and she let go, retching at the taste in her mouth.

Blackfang gently prodded Redfur's shoulder. "Redfur, buddy, this is where you come in. Yellowglint's going to help roll Snakestripe onto our shoulders, okay?"

Redfur nodded numbly, his eyes still sunken like he was suffering from hunger.

Yellowglint spat some bile out on the ground, and when the two toms crouched down, she shunted Snakestripe with swift, small pushes onto their bony shoulders. Once the blood-matted tabby was secure, they set off back through the forest.

Halfway through, Yellowglint finally threw up the remainder of her sparrow meal earlier.

Now she was not only scarred emotionally, her mouth tasted like blood, death, and sick. _This just might be the worst day of my life, _Yellowglint thought. She immediately regretted it, realizing that the deaths of her mother and brother were also very jarring and horrible.

They reentered the camp, all tails dragging on the ground, even Snakestripe's, which was long enough to nearly trip Redfur every other step.

Foxsnarl met them first, and breathed in heavy puffs through his nose Blackfang and Redfur gently shrugged off the big tabby.

The ginger tom circled around the body of his leader, inspecting him closely, including the impalement wound. He buried his nose in the striped fur crusted with blood, and then raised his head to stare evenly at Redfur, Yellowglint, and Blackfang. "I smell blood and something unfamiliar, a she-cat."

"We found him impaled on the fence," Redfur whispered, his legs shaking so violently that Blackfang had to rush to his side to support him.

"I'm guessing you didn't catch the rogue who did this?" Foxsnarl murmured.

"We saw a very thin, long white tail disappear behind the undergrowth," Blackfang replied. "I took chase, but she was gone in the blink of an eye, and the entire area stank of her, so it was next to impossible to pick up a trail."

Foxsnarl lowered his head, and for several lengthy moments every cat in the gorge was still and silent. Then the russet-furred deputy lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. "We will always mourn Snakestripe," he started slowly. "And I honor his choice in making me his deputy. I do not want SkyClan to be down on its guard for a heartbeat, so I'm going to name my second-in-command now."

Yellowglint felt her stomach turn over, and forced herself to keep her eyes on Foxsnarl instead of Snakestripe.

"I'm fairly sure you all can guess who I will choose to be my deputy," Foxsnarl said. He smirked and then flicked his tail at Redfur. "Redfur. The mentor of my daughter, the mate of my sister, and the true leader in SkyClan, even if he doesn't believe it yet. Will you stand by my side in leading this ragtag Clan?"

* * *

**Woah, I bet you never guessed that would happen!**


	14. The Grouchy Brother

**I redid the summary, hopefully this sounds more interesting now :D Happy reading!**

* * *

The cold horror that had carved a hollow pit of dread in Greeneyes' belly at the sight of Snakestripe's body dissipated in an instant as Foxsnarl made his announcement.

_If that mouse-hearted old fool doesn't accept the proposal, I swear I'll—_

Redfur spoke up after a long moment where the Clans waited with bated breath. He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either.

"Foxsnarl, I really appreciate your offer. You choosing me to be deputy is truly surprising. I- I just don't know if I deserve it." Sheepishly, Redfur gazed down at his paws. His eyes were still as wide and frightened as they'd been when he trooped into camp with Yellowglint and Blackfang.

"Why would you say that?" Foxsnarl murmured. The ginger tom stepped forward and allowed his tail to drape over the younger tom's shoulders. "You help bring a Clanmate back to camp for a proper vigil." He lowered his voice quietly so only Redfur could catch it. _He'd hear it from across the mountains anyway, _Greeneyes thought with a hint of scorn as he fastened his claws on a leaf. _Being able to pick up patchy places in Foxsnarl's pelt doesn't help at the moment, _he added, cursing his excellent vision.

Redfur nodded, once, curtly, Foxsnarl released Redfur from his hold, and the ginger leader lifted his muzzle to the sky. "It is official! Redfur is the deputy of SkyClan!" Greeneyes frowned slightly as the crowd dispersed. _Oh? That's it? _He wondered if SkyClan had ever held any traditional ceremonies at all. _Maybe they don't even say 'Let all cats gather beneath me for a Clan meeting'…_

Greeneyes tossed away his shredded leaf and pounded over to Bluepelt, who had been sitting rigidly under the rocky overhang.

"What in StarClan's name?" The RiverClan she-cat's whisper was croaky, and she blinked toward Greeneyes with round cobalt orbs. "He calls that a deputy ceremony?"

"We can only hope there is a proper vigil for Snakestripe tonight," Greeneyes replied, his brow furrowed in agreement as he sat beside her. _Snakestripe might not deserve a vigil, since he killed a cat and felt no remorse for it. But it's not like everyone knows that, or else they'd leave his body to rot at the side of Thunderpath. _

He saw Yellowglint and Blackfang were standing with Redfur, congratulating him enthusiastically. The ThunderClan tabby swallowed. He felt only a pinch of guilt in his heart for not being over there with the others, but then again, Bluepelt hadn't moved a muscle either.

"I kind of feel bad we're not over there applauding Redfur," Bluepelt admitted quietly. Still she remained frozen, and Greeneyes sensed her staring at him from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, well, it's not like we have to start worshipping him now that he's a rank higher than us," Greeneyes said, a bit taken aback by the scorn in his tone. _I should just be happy for him and leave it at that. _But he found he couldn't.

The brown tom glimpsed his brother chatting animatedly with Jumpingspirit and Bark a few fox-lengths away. He squinted, and his gift from the Colorful Sky magnified the view for him. As he examined each and every piece of forest debris clinging to Raggedwing's long pelt, old anger lumbered back into his mind, as unwelcome as an attacking badger. Then Greeneyes realized something: it wasn't entirely unwelcome.

Still focused on Raggedwing's knotted fur, he growled to Bluepelt, "And to start, you have much more experience than him— you've already trained an apprentice, for StarClan's sake. Even I would do better as deputy, he—"

"_What_?"

Greeneyes startled, and in heartbeats the zoom on Raggedwing had turned into Redfur's face. Greeneyes let out a yelp and stumbled back when he saw that they were muzzle-to-muzzle.

"What did you say?" Redfur demanded. Greeneyes could tell he was having difficulty keeping his amber gaze cold. It was slightly defrosted no matter what, probably since he was still shaken by Snakestripe's murder.

As his eyes readjusted to their normal vision, he noticed Yellowglint and Blackfang were shouldering Redfur, as if they were his bodyguards. The ThunderClan warrior registered movement at his flank, and looked to his left to see Bluepelt brush her pelt against his, her chest puffed out and eyes narrowed irritably.

"You were saying you… you think I'm not worthy of- of being deputy," Redfur meowed unsteadily.

Greeneyes recovered from his shock, and snapped his head up and down. "I did say it," he said, baring his fangs in Redfur's face, "because it's the truth."

He whipped around, kinking his tail over his back just in case any outraged teeth wanted to bite it. He padded out from under the shade of the overhang, and grinned when he saw Bluepelt was still at his side.

"You're really on my side?" he asked her as he led her over to the snowbank covering the sunning stones. They sat down next to it, it perfect view of the overhang, where they could sit and gloat and watch Redfur, Yellowglint, and Blackfang glare back at them.

"Of course, I'm with you all the way," Bluepelt answered him, lashing her cut-off tail as she curled it over her front paws. "Didn't you see his face when he walked in with Snakestripe's body? Just full of cowardice."

Greeneyes, though annoyed with Redfur, was disturbed that he'd seemed to have lost Yellowglint and Blackfang too. He said this aloud, and again Bluepelt agreed.

"Yeah, they must eaten fresh-kill tainted with idiocy," she mewed, her voice distorted by laughter. "They probably just feel bad for him when he fainted from seeing a drop of Snakestripe's blood."

He doubled over in laughter, and when he straightened up again, he saw that the other three were scowling directly at them. The tabby decided to lay it on thick, and helped himself to a second round of obnoxious chuckles. Bluepelt caught on, and added her own snickering.

"I think we have a couple of cuckoo birds over here," Tumblefoot muttered as he walked by the snowbank with Mudstripe.

The dark brown tabby snorted and rolled his eyes, shooting one last amused glance over his shoulder at Greeneyes and Bluepelt.

Greeneyes smirked devilishly. His Clanmate had no clue about the vicious war about to rage between him and Redfur. _And we just need to recruit one more cat so we're even. _

He believed he knew just who to go to.

He bid temporary farewell to Bluepelt and walked over to the nursery. Taking a deep breath, he slipped in between the cool cave walls.

Greeneyes was admittedly impressed at the size of the milky den. There was plenty of room for kits to still play inside on frostbitten days, and he could see faint indentations in the stone from moons of scuffling and play-fighting. Around the rim of the den were several roomy nests, two of which were currently occupied by Roseleaf and Snowflake. Jumpingspirit was still out, and Blazenose was tossing a moss-ball around with her kits in the center. She moved to the side, gathering Flamekit and Flarekit close to her as he passed.

The tabby peered around the corner, and gasped as he took in the small home Raggedwing and Bark had arranged for their blossoming family. It was a little cove, a bit isolated from the buzz of the rest of the den. The entire ground was covered in plush moss, perfect padding if the newborns went astray.

Bark was soundly asleep, and Raggedwing was beginning to curl up next to her, when Greeneyes entered the mossy area. Raggedwing glanced up sharply at him. "What do you want?" he whispered apprehensively to his littermate.

Greeneyes didn't say anything, just beckoned to him by flicking his tail toward the exit. Raggedwing started to sigh heavily, but then he seemed to remember his slumbering mate and cut off the sigh halfway through. He shouldered past Greeneyes roughly and headed outside. His smaller brother followed.

Once they were outside, Greeneyes turned to face him and swallowed his pride. "Hey, brother… what's new with you?"

Raggedwing's gaze was hard. "Oh, nothing much, I've just been estranged from my only living sibling. You?"

Greeneyes squeezed his eyes shut. "Please, can we put that behind us? It was a mistake." He reopened them and forced himself to stare unblinkingly into the depths of Raggedwing's optics. "A _severe _mistake. And now I want to reconcile. There's this little silly argument I'm having with my friends, and I my 'team' needs one more cat—"

"Are you serious?" Raggedwing scoffed. He then snorted and turned away, already shuffling back to the nursery. "I can't believe you really think I would forgive you like that, after insulting the love of my life and all I really know. After all we've been through, you'd think you would have some _mercy_. But no, here you are, getting into fight-games with your friends and running to me thinking everything is fine." He stopped halfway through the entrance to the cave and muttered, "Well, it's not."

* * *

**Raggedwing got a stab at being the grouch. And he's gooooooood at it**


End file.
